Differences
by Cotton Candy Mareep
Summary: When a kittypet named Luna wanders onto Clan territory, newly-named warrior Blackfrost isn't too pleased - especially when he ends up having to save her life. He brings her back to his Clan, much to their mutual dismay, but it doesn't end there. Secrets will be revealed, lines will be crossed... But can Luna and Blackfrost learn to settle their differences?
1. Prologue

**Alternate Summary: They came from two completely different worlds. He thought she was incredibly self-centered, painfully naïve, and utterly helpless on her own, due to her sheltered life of pampering in a Twoleg nest; she thought he was incredibly rude, needlessly savage, and just plain cold from living out his whole life in the harsh forest. They were polar opposites… But maybe they had a bit more in common than they initially thought, when it came to what mattered most. A story of a kittypet and a warrior who learn to settle their differences and find more similarities between them than they had ever thought possible.**

* * *

PROLOGUE

Night lay upon the forest. The air was still thick and heavy with moisture from the warm greenleaf shower earlier that evening, which made for rather uncomfortable sleeping weather. Inside the secluded nursery it was especially stifling, and for that reason, the light brown tabby she-cat lay wide awake, her two kits nestled beside her belly, one dark grey and the other a light tortoiseshell.

Therefore, she was prepared for anything when she heard the rustling at the nursery entrance. Her pelt bristling, she whipped her head around to meet it.

Over the soft milky smell of the nursery she could scent her intruder, and instantly relaxed slightly as a familiar dark shape entered. But there was another scent with him, and something small dangling from his jaws that wasn't prey…

"Forestshade…" The gentle young queen peered at him curiously. "What do you have there?"

The large tom set down his precious bundle, which let out the faintest mew of protest, confirming her suspicions. "A kit."

"...I thought you could perhaps take care of him," he continued after she said nothing in response. His voice shook, which was very uncharacteristic of the strong, levelheaded warrior. "You're the only nursing queen in the Clan at the moment, Woodfern. And he's still so young; he needs a mother."

Woodfern narrowed her hazel eyes at the tom – just because Elmstar had recently appointed him as deputy, didn't mean he had the authority to force some mysterious kit upon her. She didn't even know where it had come from! Didn't it have its own mother?

"I already have two very hungry mouths to feed," the she-cat mewed slowly, gesturing with her head at her own two kits in the nest beside her. "This is my first litter; I don't know if I could handle any more on my own. Especially a kit that isn't even mine."

"Woodfern, please," the brown striped tom begged, his eyes wide and pleading. "Our Clan must take in this kit! If not, he will surely die out in the forest, food for foxes! If he doesn't starve to death from lack of milk first."

The queen sighed in defeat, knowing that she could not resist the deputy's imploring tone this time. Woodfern took one scrutinizing look at the tiny kit, nestled between the sturdy brown paws of the large warrior. The poor little scrap was pitifully small, she noted, and its fur was black as night, its eyes still squeezed shut. It couldn't have been any more than a quarter-moon old, if even that.

"Poor thing," she mewed, gently nudging her own kits aside to make space and wordlessly gesturing for the warrior to bring the dark kit closer.

"His name is Blackkit," Forestshade announced as he very carefully bumped the kit forward with one paw. Woodfern nodded in agreement; quite clearly, the deputy must have named the kit after his midnight fur.

"And where was it that you found him, again?" She paused, thinking it over and choosing her words with discretion. "Is he… yours?"

"I discovered him in the forest, all alone," Forestshade replied, refusing to meet the queen's eyes. "His mother was nowhere to be found. Probably a rogue. Perhaps a fox got to her, or a badger. But the kit is innocent."

"Strange that a mother should simply abandon her young like that," the light brown she-cat murmured, and she bent her head to give the little black kit a sniff. There was no Clan scent on him, save for Forestshade's own scent in carrying the kit back to camp. It seemed that the Clan deputy was being truthful, as the kit did smell like a rogue, though there was something peculiar in the way the tom refused to meet her gaze with his own.

"Thank you, Woodfern," Forestshade meowed before backing up to leave, glancing down at the kit one last time with a strange look of fondness. "I'll be sure to bring you extra fresh-kill, and I'll alert the rest of the Clan to the situation in the morning... With any hope, they will accept him."

The queen looked down at the tiny dark kit suckling against her belly, nestled in with her own as though he were one of them. "I'm sure they will."

* * *

 **A/N: Allegiances will be posted next update. Many of the Warriors books I haven't read in a long while, so I don't know whether any names of my original characters are actually used in canon. If any of these names _have_ been used before in the books or whatever, it was completely unintentional, and they are NOT the same cat. I mean, considering how many cats have been a part of the Clans over the course of time, there's got to be a name overlap somewhere; it even occurs in the books occasionally. **

**Also, this story takes place long after SkyClan left the forest, long enough that no Clan cat remembers them, but much, much earlier than the events of Bluestar's Prophecy and the original series and all that fun stuff. Updates should come about once or twice a week, so keep a look out for them, and I hope you enjoy the story to come (also my very first Warriors fanfiction)!**

 **\- CCM**


	2. Allegiances

**A/N: Sorry, not really an official update - that will come in a few days. This page shall serve as a character reference (as in in all Warriors books), to give you a better feel for my characters. Information listed here is not final and may be edited if I find it necessary to make changes to the cats and Clans, add a new character, etc. so that my allegiances stay consistent with the plot. Check back here whenever you need to in order to stay up to date with the story. - CCM**

* * *

ALLEGIANCES

 **ThunderClan**

 **Leader:**

Foreststar – large, brown striped tabby tom with thick fur and deep forest-green eyes; successor to Elmstar

 **Deputy:**

Hawktalon – strong dark grey tabby tom with amber eyes and a badly torn left ear

 **Medicine Cat:**

Rosethorn – relatively young dark tortoiseshell she-cat with white paws and underbelly, and intelligent copper eyes

 **Warriors:**

Blackfrost – young solid black tom with bright green eyes

Snakefang – young dark grey tom with thick, almost black stripes and scrutinizing amber eyes

Robinsong – young, gentle light tortoiseshell she-cat with a small white splotch on her belly and kind amber eyes

Foxtail – dark reddish-orange she-cat with lurid green, almond-shaped eyes and a slightly bushy white-tipped tail

Flamepelt – orange tabby tom with blue-grey eyes; _apprentice, Acornpaw_

Lightningstripe – light brown tabby tom with dark stripes and blue eyes

Woodfern – gentle, tawny light brown she-cat with kind hazel eyes

Rowanfur – reddish-brown tom with copper eyes; _apprentice, Dustypaw_

Raincloud – pale grey she-cat with darker flecks of grey and dark paws, wide hazel eyes; _apprentice, Grasspaw_

Mosspelt – skittish, lithe dark brown tom with a light brown marking on his chest and pale green eyes

Sparrowflight – lithe light brown she-cat with yellow eyes and one white paw; _apprentice, Wrenpaw_

Mistydawn - silvery-blue she-cat with blue eyes

Stormbreeze – dark silvery-grey tom with thick fur and copper eyes; _apprentice, Stonepaw_

Moletooth – large, gruff black and white tom with yellow eyes

Treeshade – large dark grey tom with green eyes, oldest warrior in the Clan

 **Apprentices:**

Dustypaw – dark grey tortoiseshell she-cat with a tan underbelly and yellow-green eyes; _mentor, Rowanfur_

Stonepaw – sturdy granite-grey tom with dark blue eyes; _mentor, Stormbreeze_

Grasspaw – very dark brown she-cat with brilliant emerald-green eyes; _mentor, Raincloud_

Wrenpaw – light brown she-cat with white paws and pale green eyes; _mentor, Sparrowflight_

Acornpaw – brown tabby tom with copper eyes; _mentor, Flamepelt_

 **Queens:**

Maplefur – pretty she-cat with rich brown fur and green eyes, mother of Flamepelt's kits: Gingerkit (ginger tabby tom with green eyes), Shrewkit (brown tabby tom with green eyes),and Tuftkit (tiny white she-cat with grey-blue eyes)

Bluemist – dark blue-grey she-cat with blue eyes, oldest nursery queen

 **Elders:**

Stumptail – heavy-set black and white tom with pale yellow eyes and a stumpy tail

Ivywhisker – thin, wiry tortoiseshell she-cat with copper eyes

Owlface – wise, skinny brown tabby tom with a round face and enormous yellow eyes, oldest cat in the Clan

o0o0o

 **RiverClan**

 **Leader:**

Silverstar – lithe young silver tabby tom with blue eyes; successor to Birdstar

 **Deputy:**

Heronflight – sleek, dark blue-grey tom with copper eyes

 **Medicine Cat:**

Lilypelt – young light brown tabby she-cat with white underbelly and tail tip, and emerald-green eyes

 **Warriors:**

Leafbreeze – young light tortoiseshell she-cat with emerald-green eyes

Rippleclaw – large grey tom with dark stripes and amber eyes

Sunglare – golden tom with thick fur and warm amber eyes; _apprentice, Minnowpaw (pale tawny she-cat with dark brown paws and light blue eyes)_

Leopardheart – golden tom with mottled black spots and amber eyes; _apprentice, Frogpaw (black and white tom with green eyes)_

Squirreltail – young reddish-brown she-cat with a bushy tail and green eyes

Spottedfish – young mottled brown tom with hazel eyes

Mudsplash – brown tom with thick fur and amber eyes

Badgerpelt – black and white tom with amber eyes

Fernshine – light brown she-cat with darker flecks and green eyes

Broadleaf – large brown tom with green eyes; _apprentice, Reedpaw (dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes)_

Sedgepelt – dark brown she-cat with green eyes, oldest warrior in RiverClan

 **Queens:**

Willowstripe – striped silver she-cat with pale green eyes, mother of Badgerpelt's kits: Smallkit (tiny black and white tom with green eyes) and Amberkit (reddish-brown she-cat with white spot on chest and amber eyes)

Streamdapple – silver tabby she-cat with blue eyes, mother of Rippleclaw's kits: Pebblekit (small silver she-cat with grey-blue eyes) and Bouncekit (grey tabby tom with amber eyes)

Greenstem – light tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes, mother of Mudsplash's kits

 **Elders:**

Pigeonstripe – dark grey tabby tom with amber eyes

Twistedfoot – black and white tom with copper eyes and a twisted back paw

Frosteye - blind white she-cat with blue eyes, oldest cat in RiverClan

o0o0o

 **WindClan**

 **Leader:**

Cloudstar – lean white tom with yellow eyes

 **Deputy:**

Eaglestrike - large dark brown tom with copper eyes; _apprentice, Snowpaw (Cloudstar's only daughter, a beautiful white she-cat with one green eye and one blue)_

 **Medicine Cat:**

Rainfall – light grey tom with darker grey patches and kind blue eyes

 **Warriors:**

Dawnblaze – pale grey tabby she-cat with blazing copper eyes; _apprentice, Sandpaw (fiery golden she-cat with copper eyes)_

Nightclaw – black she-cat with one white ear and amber eyes

Lionpelt – golden tom with amber eyes; _apprentice, Ravenpaw (black she-cat with white tail tip and spot on chest, and copper eyes)_

Swiftfoot – lean black and white tom with yellow eyes

Gorsepelt - small, mottled tortoiseshell she-cat with hazel eyes

Thorntooth – dark reddish-brown tom with hazel eyes

Strongbreeze – large grey tabby tom with copper eyes

Hailstorm – dark grey tabby tom with thick fur and yellow eyes; _apprentice, Harepaw (lean brown tabby tom with copper eyes)_

Speckleleaf - tortoiseshell she-cat with soft hazel eyes

Rabbitears – young, small brown tom with large ears and yellow eyes

Heatherfur – young, mottled brown she-cat with amber eyes

Hazelfire – young, brown tabby she-cat with fiery copper eyes

 **Queens:**

Flowerface – tortoiseshell she-cat with bright green eyes, mother of Swiftfoot's kits: Patchkit (black and white tom with amber eyes), Beetlekit (dark grey tom with green eyes), and Littlekit (tiny tortoiseshell she-cat with pale green eyes)

Morningdew – pale ginger tabby she-cat with copper eyes, mother of Strongbreeze's kits

 **Elders:**

Lightstep – small white she-cat with pale green eyes

Greymist – grey she-cat with patchy fur and blue eyes, oldest cat in WindClan

o0o0o

 **ShadowClan**

 **Leader:**

Ashstar – dark grey she-cat with darker flecks and amber eyes

 **Deputy:**

Smokepelt – dark grey tom with copper eyes; _apprentice, Darkpaw (dark grey she-cat with blue-grey eyes)_

 **Medicine Cat:**

Toadspot – mottled brown tom with yellow eyes

 **Warriors:**

Oakclaw – brown tabby tom with green eyes; _apprentice, Lizardpaw (lean pale grey tom with dark stripe down his back and green eyes)_

Timberfall – large brown tom with green eyes

Lichenfur – tawny she-cat with blue-grey eyes; _apprentice, Hazelpaw (tortoiseshell she-cat with hazel eyes)_

Longscar – pale orange tom with blue eyes and a long scar across his face

Swampfoot – large, dark grey tom with copper eyes; _apprentice, Mousepaw (small,_ _thin brown tom with hazel eyes)_

Nettleclaw – wiry brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes

Cricketfur – brown tabby tom with copper eyes

Addertail – dark tortoiseshell she-cat with piercing green eyes and a long tail

Tigerstripe – large brown she-cat with thick black stripes and green eyes

Fierceheart – ginger tabby tom with pale green eyes

 **Queens:**

Duskcloud – sleek, dark grey she-cat with pale blue eyes, mother of Oakclaw's kit: Bluekit (blue-grey tom with deep blue eyes)

Honeyfur – golden tabby she-cat with thick fur and amber eyes, mother of Cricketfur's kits: Cloverkit (golden she-cat with thick fur and amber eyes) and Applekit (dark brown tom with thick fur and copper eyes)

 **Elders:**

Jaggedscar – heavily scarred black tom with hazel eyes

Snagtooth – dark brown she-cat with amber eyes and a crooked tooth

One-ear – one-eared grey tom with hazel eyes, oldest cat in ShadowClan

o0o0o

 **Cats Outside the Clans:**

Luna – incredibly soft-furred kittypet with pale grey-white fur and dark grey points, silvery ice-blue eyes

Selene – thin, honey-colored Siamese kittypet with dark brown points and deep azure-blue eyes

Shadow – black she-cat with piercing yellow eyes

Bo - fat brown tabby tom, a loner from Twolegplace

Dex - lean grey tabby tom, a loner from Twolegplace


	3. Ch1: The Warrior

**A/N: Just wanted to let you all know that I probably won't be accepting OCs for this particular story, as I have already written out a detailed outline for the entire story and therefore had more than enough characters to use beforehand. I like to plan out every little detail before I actually start writing my chapters. I may ask for OCs in a possible future fanfiction, though; I'm just not big on using them unless it's specifically a SYOC story. But thank you for your interest! -CCM**

* * *

CHAPTER 1

This was it; his final assessment. With any luck, he would have his warrior name and full status as a warrior of ThunderClan by sundown that same night, just in time to begin his vigil. Blackpaw lashed his tail in excitement at the very thought. That would show all those cats growing up who thought he would never be good enough!

Suddenly, he heard a scuffling sound at the roots of an oak tree about a few tail-lengths to his left, and the black-furred apprentice paused to scent the air, his green eyes narrowed. A mouse, searching around for seeds.

Slowly, very slowly, Blackpaw crouched to the ground and turned his head ever so slightly to catch sight of the tiny creature. Treading as lightly as he could along the forest floor, he began to creep forward quickly and quietly. This catch would make a nice addition to his already growing pile of prey for the hunting assessment.

Not even a quarter-moon ago, he had made the traditional apprentice journey to Highstones with his "littermates" Snakepaw and Robinpaw, and had also been put on extra patrols with Foreststar recently so that the leader could assess his tracking and sneaking skills. Now all he had to do was prove to his Clan that he was a worthy hunter, and that warrior name would surely be his.

He was only a few pawsteps away from his prey when he heard a loud rustle in the undergrowth behind him. Apparently, the mouse had heard it too, for it sat straight up, raised its head, and then rapidly scurried away. Blackpaw cursed under his breath and pounced after it, but missed as his prey dove into a small alcove among the tree roots.

Annoyance bubbling up inside him, Blackpaw glanced around around for the source of the interruption. At least he still had a rabbit, two squirrels, and a fat pigeon to make up for this loss. But what had disturbed his hunt?

The black cat raised his head to the air and sniffed; the undergrowth around him was now still. But something definitely seemed… off.

Directly behind him, a thick clump of bracken rustled, and he whipped around again, fearing the worst – what if it was a fox, or intruders from another Clan?

" _Ha_!"

" _What_!?"

The leaves that littered the ground beside him crackled loudly, and suddenly a large force rammed into Blackpaw's side, fastening its claws into his fur. The black cat skidded across the ground and hissed as he rolled over in an attempt to throw his attacker off, pain prickling his pelt where the sharp claws dug into him. " _Fox dung_! Get off of me, you furball!"

With one final swipe at his ears with unsheathed claws, which luckily missed, the other cat leapt away, and Blackpaw caught ThunderClan scent and the striped grey fur of his assailant. His eyes narrowed in recognition.

"Snakepaw, you mouse-brained fool, what are you doing?" Blackpaw spat irritably, sheathing and unsheathing his claws against the dirt. For a couple of mouse-tails he would love to sink them into the grey apprentice's pelt, but refrained himself from doing so. "Aren't you supposed to be hunting near the ShadowClan border?"

All three of the oldest ThunderClan apprentices had hunting assessments that day – while Robinpaw was off hunting near Twolegplace, her brother Snakepaw had been assigned to hunt nearer to the Thunderpath along the border with ShadowClan, not to harass the other apprentices hunting.

Snakepaw sat up and licked one forepaw dismissively, one eye closed and the other trained on the black apprentice's expression. "I caught so much prey already, Moletooth let me off early. He said I already hunt like a full-fledged ThunderClan warrior."

"Well then, go back to camp and celebrate or something instead of messing up my hunt," Blackpaw grumbled. He didn't need a difficult cat like Snakepaw to embarrass him when his mentor could be watching at any moment. "I just need to catch another mouse or two."

"Hmm…" the dark grey tom insolently studied a claw for a moment in mock thought. "Well, I suppose. Foxtail said she wanted to share a bit of fresh-kill with me before my warrior ceremony."

He shrugged and put his paw back down. "So I'll see you later, _rogue_."

Blackpaw bristled at the taunting nickname as Snakepaw gloatingly stalked away into the undergrowth, but didn't bother to argue with him, as that had never gotten the pair anywhere before. Oh, why couldn't he be more like his sister, Robinpaw? _She_ never acted this way around him, or anyone, for that matter.

He turned away and trailed off nearer to the border with RiverClan, still grumbling to himself, and soon caught the scent of a vole scuffling around in the dirt near its hole on the riverbank. Blackpaw purred in satisfaction as he leapt over the gradually sloping bank and pounced directly on top of his prey, killing it with a swift bite to the neck. He may have lost his mouse due to Snakepaw's interference, but there was no way the snotty apprentice would ever prevent him from earning his rightful warrior name.

Glancing around, the black apprentice quickly returned deeper into ThunderClan territory. RiverClan and ThunderClan hadn't exactly been on the best terms since ThunderClan had taken Sunningrocks from RiverClan and claimed it as their own in the intense battle half a moon ago - while the rocky piece of territory had originally belonged to RiverClan, the area had become disputed ever since the river alongside it had changed its course, and that section of land now lay on the ThunderClan bank.

The last thing Blackpaw wanted was to be caught on his own just along the border by a patrol of RiverClan warriors intent on revenge for their huge defeat.

* * *

The ThunderClan camp was bustling with activity by the time Blackpaw returned for the final time that day, dragging his two squirrels along in the dirt, their bushy tails forming two trails behind him as they brushed against the soil. The rest of his fresh-kill from the day's hunt had already been added to the fresh-kill pile, and he placed his squirrels onto the pile as well. From the looks of the bountiful pile of prey, all three apprentices really did have a successful day of hunting.

Exhausted from his long day, Blackpaw picked out the vole he had caught earlier on the riverbank and was just settling down to eat it beside the fresh-kill pile alone when his mentor came strolling up to him.

The apprentice bowed his head respectfully. Not only was Foreststar his mentor, but he was also leader of all of ThunderClan.

"Hawktalon and I observed your assessments today," the large brown tom meowed, flicking his ears toward the enormous grey deputy tearing apart a plump blackbird a few tail-lengths away from the Highrock. "We both agree that all three of you apprentices are more than fit to become warriors."

Foreststar affectionately brushed his tail over his apprentice's ears when he noticed the proud glow in the black cat's green eyes. "It's well overdue, after how well you all fought in the last battle against RiverClan. The ceremony will proceed at sundown, just before the night patrol sets off."

Without another word, Foreststar selected one of Blackpaw's squirrels from the fresh-kill pile and retreated to the Highrock to sit beside his deputy, where they were quickly joined by another senior warrior, Treeshade, and the oldest nursery queen, Bluemist.

Feeling uncharacteristically elated, Blackpaw stretched out contentedly to enjoy his vole, observing the hustle and bustle of the camp all around him. The evening was pleasantly warm, most likely one of the last warm, comfortable nights of leaf-fall before the season of leaf-bare would clutch the forest in its icy grip for many moons.

In the open space near the nursery, Blackpaw's own foster mother Woodfern sat just outside the entrance, watching her two nearly apprentice-aged kits scuffle excitedly in the grass with the pretty brown-furred queen Maplefur's own younger trio of kits. Woodfern's mate Rowanfur sat on her other side, watching their kits with pride… Although Woodfern was the mother of Snakepaw and Robinpaw, they didn't share the same father as her kits Wrenkit and Acornkit – the former pair's father was the harsh deputy Hawktalon, not the well-mannered Rowanfur.

Speaking of Snakepaw and Robinpaw…

The dark grey tom was sitting in the center of the clearing with the reddish-brown she-cat Foxtail just as he said he would be, the pair crouched over the bones of a large rabbit they had shared. Blackpaw rolled his eyes – those two had been best friends ever since they were both apprentices together, and they each took part in mocking him of his rogue parentage for moons. Now that Snakepaw would officially be a warrior, their combined barrage of insults would surely be even worse.

The warriors Mistydawn and Mosspelt sat sharing tongues a few rabbit-lengths away from the pair, along with Stormbreeze, Lightningstripe, and Raincloud. The tortoiseshell she-cat Robinpaw, meanwhile, was sitting with the younger apprentices outside the elder's den in the fallen tree, sharing fresh-kill with the three ThunderClan elders as they listened politely to the elderly warriors' stories.

Comfortable and safe for the time being, Blackpaw began to doze off in the gradually fading sunlight overhead, until finally the familiar yowl from the top of the Highrock startled him awake. His heart beat faster, but not in fear – his warrior ceremony was to begin!

"May all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!"

Blackpaw walked solemnly toward the large rock in the center of the clearing as Foreststar made the call, attempting to disguise the excitement that threatened to billow out of him in waves. The last thing he wanted was to look like a silly kit in front of the entire Clan at his own warrior ceremony. Robinpaw and Snakepaw acted with equal seriousness, though Blackpaw could see the enthusiasm in their eyes. The rest of ThunderClan gathered around the Highrock as well, and he could sense the feelings of anticipation they shared.

"Blackpaw, Robinpaw, Snakepaw," Foreststar called, and the three apprentices strode forward to sit at the front of the crowd, their paws tingling with excitement. Hawktalon watched them intently from his usual place beside the Highrock, his stern, scrutinizing amber eyes trained on Snakepaw, in particular. Blackpaw stood so close, he could see the huge tear in the deputy's left ear. Snakepaw's mentor, the black and white warrior Moletooth, sat nearby, along with Robinpaw's mentor Sparrowflight, a light brown she-cat with one white paw. Each warrior watched their respective apprentice with pride.

On top of the Highrock, Foreststar cleared his throat to speak.

"A few sunrises ago, these apprentices set off on their journey to Highstones." The great leader paused, glancing down at the trio huddled before the Highrock. "All three have completed their assessments admirably, and fought bravely in the recent battle with RiverClan, showing off skills befitting those of well-trained warriors beyond their years, helping us to acquire Sunningrocks as ThunderClan territory. And now, their mentors and I agree that their warrior ceremonies are well past due. It is time they have earned their true place here in ThunderClan."

He nodded down at the apprentices. "Snakepaw, Robinpaw, please step forward."

The two apprentices did as they were told, and Blackpaw felt a jolt in his stomach as his name wasn't called, though he didn't let his nerves show. Foreststar leapt down from the rock to stand before the pair of siblings. Robinpaw looked visibly nervous by now, her tail swishing around behind her anxiously, though she did not back down, while Snakepaw stood still, his amber eyes watching his leader defiantly. Beside the Highrock, the deputy Hawktalon looked on in satisfaction as he watched his kits' ceremony unfold.

"I, Foreststar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these two apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn." He glanced down, his green eyes shining. "Snakepaw, Robinpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your lives?"

"I do." Robinpaw's voice rang out clear around the clearing, determination in her amber eyes.

"I do," her brother echoed in a steady voice, his eyes narrowed.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names. Snakepaw, from this moment you will be known as Snakefang. StarClan honors your cleverness and your strength and skill in battle, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan." Foreststar stepped forward and rested his muzzle against Snakefang's head, and the new warrior bent to give his leader a respectful lick on the shoulder, then straightened up and approached his father beside the Highrock. Foreststar turned toward Robinpaw, who thrashed her tail excitedly.

"Robinpaw, from this moment you will be known as Robinsong. StarClan honors your kindness and your forethought, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan." Foreststar and the small tortoiseshell she-cat repeated the customary gesture, and she then bounced away toward the line of warriors before stopping herself and settling down in a more mature manner.

Finally, the great brown tom turned to Blackpaw, a look of pure pride ablaze in his forest-green eyes as his gaze met the apprentice's. Feeling slightly nervous, Blackpaw straightened up and tried not to falter under the looks from his mentor and all his other Clanmates watching him. But when the leader spoke, his voice was gentle. "And of course, there is one more warrior ceremony to attend to. One we are all lucky to be able to witness. Blackpaw, come forward, please."

He did as he was told, and the leader continued. "Blackpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do." His voice didn't waver.

"Then by the power of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Blackpaw, from this moment you will be known as Blackfrost. StarClan honors your intelligence, your courage, and your determination, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."

Foreststar took a few pawsteps forward toward his former apprentice, and Blackfrost's eyes shone with gratitude as the leader rested his muzzle upon his head for a moment. "Thank you," the black warrior whispered. "Without you, I never would have made it this far."

"No need to thank me," Foreststar murmured, his response nearly drowned out by the calls of their Clanmates calling out the new warriors' names. "You have earned it."

As he stepped back, Blackfrost noticed the flicker of understanding in his leader's eyes, and knew that they both realized the importance of the exchange. Without Foreststar, Blackfrost most likely would have died as a newborn kit, abandoned in ThunderClan's forest territory by rogues. Foreststar was the cat who found him and took him into the Clan, the cat who helped most of the Clan learn to accept him despite his non-Clanborn heritage, and the cat who mentored him in the well-respected and honored ways of the warrior Clans.

"Robinsong! Snakefang! Blackfrost!"

The ThunderClan cats continued chanting the new warriors' names, and Blackfrost felt a thrill of pride and satisfaction shoot through him. This was what all his training was for.

The light brown she-cat Woodfern, mother of Robinsong and Snakefang and foster mother of Blackfrost, approached the three newly-named warriors for a moment, her eyes shining as she took a long look at each of them in turn, sizing them up equally. "I am so proud of you, my kits," she purred. "But you mustn't speak, now, as it is time to begin your warrior vigil."

"Yeah," Foxtail hissed as she stalked past the group, her eyes trained solely on Blackfrost. "Have fun sitting up all night until your backside gets sore while the rest of us get a good sleep! And keep an eye out… wouldn't want _rogues_ or something to attack the camp with you guarding."

She nudged Snakefang with her head in a friendly way, murmured something into his ear, and retreated to the warrior's den. Snakefang watched her go with an amused smirk.

Blackfrost bristled at the obvious jab at his parentage, as there had been no sign of rogue cats in ThunderClan territory for moons, but Robinsong rested her tail consolingly against the black warrior's shoulder, holding him back. Though she didn't speak, she couldn't speak, Blackfrost took comfort in his foster sister's touch.

As the rest of the ThunderClan warriors retreated to their warm, comfortable dens – except for Moletooth, Sparrowflight, and the large silvery-grey tom Stormbreeze, who set off through the gorse tunnel for the sundown patrol – the three newly-named warriors took their spots for the nighttime vigil. Snakefang settled down directly in front of the entrance, his head held high. Robinsong sat down a few tail-lengths beside him, wrapping her tail daintily around her tortoiseshell paws. Blackfrost quickly took up his own position a little ways behind them, just in the center of the clearing.

Above the silent camp, the glowing half moon hovered just over the treetops.

A warrior just in time for the next Gathering, only half a moon away, Blackfrost thought smugly as he gazed at the stars of Silverpelt above them. All he had to do was get through his vigil without incident, and a warm nest in the warrior's den would be waiting for him when he was done.

* * *

 **A/N: So this was mostly an introduction to the life of Blackfrost; the next chapter will be a similar introduction to my other main character's life, and then the action of the story will really begin in chapter three! Thank you for reading my first full chapter; reviews are always appreciated! -CCM**


	4. Ch2: The Kittypet

**A/N:** **Thank you so much to everyone who commented so far, you're all so sweet! Also, Bootystar, I agree - my prologue was actually somewhat based on the prologue of _Fire and Ice_ , where Oakheart brings the kits to Graypool. I was waiting for someone to point that out. And I'm glad you like my names, I thought very hard about them all, haha. A lot of the characters included in the allegiances won't actually be mentioned much in this story, but they'll feature more prominently in the sequel I'm planning.**

 **– CCM**

* * *

CHAPTER 2

Luna awoke to the beautifully familiar sound of a can opening in the kitchen.

Lazily, the young she-cat stirred from her comfortable nest, lined with a warm quilted blanket and a few plush cushioned pillows, and stretched out her forelegs without opening her eyes. Beside her, she felt Selene leap down from her own nest and listened as the older she-cat's paw pads treaded lightly across the smooth tiled floor.

Luna thought she should probably follow her, but she was so comfortable...

A delightfully fishy smell met her nose, and Luna finally opened her eyes and picked her way out of her nest to join the other cat at the opposite end of the kitchen.

Selene, the sleek and beautiful honey-colored Siamese with deep azure-blue eyes and long legs that Luna had always been envious of, was already crouched over a plate of deliciously scented food. The lady housefolk – her name was Joanne – stood nearby, cooing at her softly as she scraped the remainder of the meal onto the plate.

Luna let out a small trill of delight as she caught a glimpse of the can in her housefolk's hand – the food in the pale powder-blue can, tuna flavor, had always been her favorite. What a perfect start to her morning.

"Good morning," Luna meowed to the pair of them, her silvery-blue eyes sparkling, as she made her way to sit beside Selene on the kitchen floor. "Do you think I could have a bit of that, too?"

Selene nodded. "Of course, Lu! There's plenty for us to share!"

She scooted over a little to allow Luna some space around the plate, as the younger cat, albeit shorter, was a lot fluffier than she was, and the lady housefolk Joanne bent down to give the pale grey-white cat a scratch behind the ears. Luna purred affectionately and rubbed herself against her housefolk's legs, enjoying the feel of her soft fur being stroked before settling down again to eat breakfast with Selene.

The male housefolk – Robert, he was called – had already left for the day, and the lady housefolk was soon on her way out the door as well, adding the pelt things onto her body that Luna knew meant she was going out until later.

"Goodbye!" she mewed, looking up from the plate of food to watch her housefolk move around the house. "I'll see you later!"

The lady housefolk made another happy cooing sound at Luna and opened one of the two doors that led to the outside. Luna tried to follow her out, but Joanne pushed her back gently with one leg and then shut the door behind her.

Luna made an agitated chirp – although she knew her housefolk meant well, she had only wanted to take a short look around on the other side of the door. The breeze from the outside had felt so nice against her fur for that short moment when the door was opened.

Luna turned back and leapt up onto the ledge in front of the big window, where she could look out at the birds fluttering around in the yard and feel the pleasant warmth of bright sunlight on her thick fur through the clear pane. It was her favorite place in the entire home.

She let out a soft, sad mew as she watched her housefolk climb into the shiny monster and back away.

Selene quickly joined her, glancing down at the smaller she-cat with a slightly patronizing look. "You know you can't go outside," she mewed. "You of all cats would never make it out there on your own."

Luna rolled her eyes. "Don't talk to me like I'm just some silly little kitten, Selene. I only wanted to feel the lovely breeze, and take in all those wonderful smells! I wasn't going to go far."

The taller she-cat shrugged, flicking her dark brown ears. "I just don't want you to get lost out there like I did. The outside is a dangerous place, especially for cats like you, no offense. You've never been out there, so you wouldn't know."

It was true that Selene had once gotten lost in the neighborhood outside for almost an entire week, probably long before Luna had even been born; the young she-cat had heard Selene's stories about it. And it was also true that Luna had never been out there herself.

But that didn't mean that Selene knew everything there was to know about the outside world. Besides, Luna had only wanted to take a quick peek around.

Luna licked a dark grey paw and passed it over one of her ears, refusing to look at Selene. "How dangerous could truly it be," she murmured, "when it looks so nice."

Selene merely shook her head in response and leapt down onto the carpeted floor, padding back into the kitchen. Most likely to make sure the breakfast plate had been licked clean.

Luna sighed and placed a paw against the windowpane, feeling the strangely smooth, clear material beneath her paw pads. "Maybe someday."

* * *

The housefolk were back right on time for dinner that evening, just as they always were. The male housefolk came first, signaled by the rumble of his shiny monster making its way up the lane toward the house, followed by a loud slam as he clambered out. The lady housefolk came back soon after him, and Luna watched them come home from the window ledge just as she always did, her stomach grumbling with hunger.

The housefolk talked intently for a while outside in their strange language when they had both climbed out of their monsters, and then they came in together through the front door. Luna ran to the door to greet them with a purr, and Selene soon followed more slowly, letting out a high-pitched meow in greeting.

The male housefolk took off his extra pelts quickly before turning inside, pausing to give each of the cats a soft pat on the head, and the lady housefolk cooed to them as she took off her own pelts and then scooped Luna up into her arms, stroking her gently as she carried her into the kitchen for dinner, Selene darting around at her heels.

Next, Robert went huffing around each of the rooms, opening the windows and letting a cool breeze flow through the rather stuffy warmth of the house. Joanne worked on making their own housefolk dinner, flitting about the kitchen until a delicious smell began to fill the room.

Luna watched them eat their dinner out of the corner of her eye as she munched the food on her plate with Selene beside her (dinner from the bright red can this time, which wasn't bad), and when she was finished, she followed her housefolk back into the big room with the colorful changing box to cuddle as they did every evening after the big meal.

Luna loved her housefolk. She loved the way Robert carefully stroked her fur with his large, rough but warm hands, and how Joanne cuddled her in her arms as she cooed to her softly. The way they both let out exclamations of happiness when she began to purr and knead their pelts with her paws.

And later, when the sun fell and the world went dark, they would climb into bed and she and Selene would watch over them until they began to snore, before retreating to their own cozy nests for the night.

The male housefolk Robert eventually began to doze off, and once he started to snore, a sound like the rumble of a monster coming out of him as he slept, the lady housefolk gently moved Luna off her lap to get up and return to the kitchen, making a lot of noise as she moved around in there.

Selene followed her into the kitchen, and with a twitch of her tail, Luna jumped down from the cushions and wandered into the back room with the large windows that looked out into the back garden. The sun was at the front of the house during the day, but in the evenings, it moved toward the back before it eventually set and night fell – but there was a lot of time left before the sky would darken over.

Luna settled herself comfortably on the ledge before one of the back windows. Robert had opened it earlier, and a nice breeze was now blowing gently into the room, bringing with it the scents of fragrant flowers and other strange smells that she didn't recognize.

Tilting her head closer to the window to scent the fresh air better, Luna noticed something unusual, and her ears perked up in surprise. The sheet of mesh that usually covered the open window was broken!

She looked closer. There was a long tear in the thin webbing, and Luna thought fleetingly that she might be able to squeeze herself through if she tugged at it just a little bit more, and didn't mind getting a bit of her fur stuck in it. But should she really do it?

She glanced around – the male housefolk was snoring in the big room with the noisy color-changing box, and the lady housefolk was still in the kitchen with Selene. Now was her chance – maybe today was her day!

I only want to take a look around, that's all, Luna reminded herself. Do a tiny bit of exploring. She didn't want to get lost out there like Selene had.

Quickly and quietly as she could manage, Luna lifted a paw and attempted to brush the loose webbing aside, but it wouldn't budge. Narrowing her eyes, she pressed both front paws against the mesh and began to tear at the rip with her teeth, ignoring the odd metallic taste and hardness.

Slowly, very slowly, it began to lift away, until she thought she could manage to squeeze herself through.

With one last look around, Luna took a deep breath and squeezed herself through the rip in the screen, gritting her teeth as the loose wiry ends poked and caught at her fur. With a final heave, she pushed through and fell onto the ground on the outside, landing clumsily on her feet.

She gasped – the grass underneath her paw pads felt so strange, prickly against her toes. She lifted her nose and took a deep sniff of the air; it smelled so _interesting_! The garden was full of scents and shapes that she didn't recognize.

Suddenly wondering whether her housefolk or Selene might see her outside the window and get angry or upset with her, she flattened herself against the grass, ignoring the prickliness against her belly. Nervously, she began to make her way toward the long wooden fence at the very back of the yard, meowing in pleasant surprise as she watched the tiny brown birds flutter and chirp over her head. With any luck, the flowery bushes in the garden would hide her until she could make it there.

But Luna made it to the fence without incident, and stopped right in front of it, wondering whether she could make the jump onto the top. It was so high up, but then again, she would surely be able to see so much more from that vantage point, not just her own housefolks' garden but the yards of all the houses nearby as well! That thought both excited and motivated her.

Luna crouched down in the grass, bunching up her haunches, and then took a grand leap up toward the top of the fence. She missed by a little ways, her front paws grasping the top of the fence while her back paws clawed uselessly at the thick wooden slabs, scrabbling for a hold.

With great effort she pulled herself up onto the narrow ridge of the fence top and took a look around, eyes wide in wonder. The world was so big, much bigger than she could ever have imagined!

On the opposite side of the fence, enormous trees with thick trunks towered far over her head, so tall she nearly fell off the fence post stretching her neck up to see their tops. And there were so many of them, more than she could possibly count!

Selene had mentioned the many monsters and buildings and strange cats of the neighborhood, but she had never said a word about a forest.

Glancing around with a hint of dizziness in her attempt to soak in everything, Luna caught a movement out of the corner of her eyes, and looked down into the mysterious woods beyond the fence to catch sight of a lithe dark shape stalking through the undergrowth, ears pricked.

Luna crouched down along the top of the fence, though it was too late to hide, and watched as a strange black cat picked his way into the open and looked around. Luna held her breath – was this one of the strange cats Selene had spoken of?

He was a rather large cat, lean muscles rippling beneath his sleek pelt, which was much more ungroomed than Luna would ever have found acceptable. Overall, she caught a distinct air of _wildness_ about him.

Spotting her up on the fence, the black cat narrowed his bright green eyes and his ears flattened against his head threateningly, but he didn't come any closer to her. Instead, he shook his head and turned back for the shelter of the woods, his dark pelt quickly disappearing into the shaded undergrowth.

Luna could swear she saw more catlike shapes flitting through the trees beyond, but when she took another closer look, they were all gone.

Suddenly, she heard a loud yowl calling from the home, and the pale she-cat nearly fell off the narrow fence in surprise. Her housefolk were calling for her!

With one last glance into the forest, straining her eyes for the form of a cat but finding none, Luna jumped from the fence back into her grassy yard, again landing ungracefully on her paws.

Her lady housefolk Joanne stood at the door, her voice filled with distress, and the male housefolk Robert stood just behind her. Not wanting to keep them waiting, Luna stumbled across the yard toward them and up the wooden steps to the doorway, purring as Joanne quickly scooped her up into her arms and began stroking her fur, cooing softly.

Luna took one last fleeting look at the outside before Robert shut the door behind them. Below her, Selene twitched her dark brown ears questioningly, another vaguely condescending look in her eyes, but Luna hardly cared for once. Selene had never told her just how interesting the outside world was – perhaps she could find her way out again soon, and maybe even find that strange black cat in the woods.

After all, neither Selene nor her housefolk seemed to have noticed the tear in the window screen just yet. And Luna wasn't about to give up her little secret so soon.

* * *

 **A/N: Fun facts: just wanted to mention that Luna is actually based on one of my own cats, and a few other cat characters in this are also taken from real-life cats I know. I got the idea for this story after wondering how my spoiled little kittypet would deal with Clan life. Also, Joanne was named after J.K. Rowling, and Robert after her other penname Robert Galbraith.**

 **With this chapter, I just wanted to establish the relationship between Luna, Selene, and their housefolk, just as I had done with Blackfrost's life back in ThunderClan. Nothing particularly interesting here, I'll admit, but don't worry - the next chapter is where the real action starts! I can't wait!**

 **Thanks for reading; reviews are appreciated! - CCM**


	5. Ch3: Attack and Rescue

CHAPTER 3

"Blackfrost, wake up!" A gentle but insistent paw nudged him in the side, prodding him awake. "Hawktalon ordered us to go on a hunting patrol by sunhigh today, and the sun is already way up there!"

At the mention of the deputy's name, Blackfrost jumped up – the last thing he wanted was to get on the super-critical Hawktalon's bad side, or the deputy would surely have something negative to say on the matter. And that would only add on to the criticism he already regularly received.

The young black tom opened his eyes to come face to face with another pair of kind but distinctly worried-looking amber eyes. Robinsong.

"Come on, we have to go!" the tortoiseshell she-cat mewed fretfully, glancing back at the entrance to the warrior's den, where bright sunlight was streaming through. The den was completely empty but for the two of them, which was a bad sign.

"Stormbreeze and Stonepaw are already waiting by the gorse tunnel so we can start!"

"Okay, okay, I'm coming," Blackfrost grumbled, blinking sleep from his eyes, and he followed Robinsong out into the clearing. True enough, the large, dark grey warrior Stormbreeze and his grey-furred apprentice Stonepaw were waiting by the entrance to the ThunderClan camp, each looking a bit disgruntled.

Robinsong padded over to them, meowing a quick greeting, and Blackfrost followed her after swiping a small finch from the steadily shrinking fresh-kill pile and gulping it down in a few rushed bites, spitting out feathers. The pile of prey truly did need some replenishing, there was no doubt about that, and perhaps a good hunt was just what he needed to fully wake up.

He was painfully aware of the deputy's stern gaze watching him with disapproval from beside the Highrock as the hunting patrol padded through the gorse tunnel out of camp.

Blackfrost had been a warrior for a quarter moon already, and it was still just as exciting as it was the night he earned his official warrior name, though routine was starting to set in. Of course, he never enjoyed waking up early in the morning for patrol, but at least he didn't have to follow everyone else's orders like he did when he was only an apprentice. His warrior status gave him a newfound sense of freedom that he greatly appreciated, as it was now easier to get away from certain rude, obnoxious cats (Snakefang, for instance) and spend some much-needed time on his own.

And certainly, his first Gathering as a warrior would brighten things up a bit.

Once the four cats had made it to the top of the ravine, Stormbreeze twitched his ears, signaling them to stop.

"I'm thinking we should head over toward Twolegplace to hunt. The prey has been running well there as of late, and it would probably be in our best interest not to hunt anywhere near Sunningrocks or the RiverClan border for the time being," he mewed.

Blackfrost reluctantly twitched his ears in agreement as Robinsong nodded, and the elder warrior continued, "I'm going to work on hunting techniques with Stonepaw while we're there, so we can split up now and each hunt around Twolegplace on our own. You two can catch more prey that way."

Without another word, Stormbreeze flicked his tail and bounded toward Twolegplace with Stonepaw at his heels, and Blackfrost and Robinsong followed after him much more slowly, their ears pricked for the sounds of prey as they stealthily made their way through the undergrowth.

Within moments, the sound of a shrew scuffling around in the nearby undergrowth met their ears, and Blackfrost caught the scent of it coming from somewhere to their right. Quietly motioning with his tail, he signaled to Robinsong, who quickly crouched and began padding softly toward their prey. Swift as a WindClan cat, the tortoiseshell she-cat pounced into a nearby clump of bracken and returned with a small shrew in her jaws.

"Nice catch," Blackfrost mewed.

Robinsong shrugged modestly, setting down the meager shrew at her feet. "It's a tiny little thing, no big deal. We're going to have to catch a lot more than this."

"That's fine; at least you caught something," the black tom grumbled, albeit good-naturedly, at least coming from him. "Catching prey, regardless of its size, is always better than _not_ catching it."

"Well…" the she-cat's amber eyes glittered playfully, "maybe not if we had caught it on RiverClan territory."

Blackfrost rolled his eyes. "But we're _not_ on RiverClan territory. Or ShadowClan, or WindClan, for that matter."

He flicked his tail. "Come on, go ahead and bury that shrew so we can keep hunting, we can fetch it on the way back."

Robinsong nodded, scraping some loose earth over her catch, and then licked a forepaw thoughtfully. "Perhaps we should split up now… Like Stormbreeze said, the hunting will probably be better if we all move ahead separately. All this talking will surely scare away the prey."

She paused. "I was thinking of going over toward Tallpines, so maybe you could head down along the Twoleg trail from Twolegplace, if that's alright with you?"

Blackfrost twitched his ears irritably at being told what to do, but he could never get angry with Robinsong. She was just too sweet. "Fine, then. I'll meet up with you later, I guess."

"Cool!" she purred, and bounded off into the undergrowth in the direction of Tallpines with all the enthusiasm of a newly named apprentice.

Blackfrost sighed – she would surely scare away prey bursting through the forest like that, but that was none of his concern now. Instead, he stalked off toward Twolegplace and the aforementioned Twoleg path.

Twolegplace wasn't his favorite place to hunt by far, as there was always the hovering possibility of running into a stupid Twoleg or kittypet in the area, but there was usually some good prey scurrying around as well.

Besides, Twolegs and their insufferable dogs could easily be avoided, they were so loud, and kittypets were no match for a ThunderClan warrior well trained in the art of battle like himself. They were all too soft and weak to fight back, and cowardly at that – all it took was a good meaningful hiss and perhaps a blow or two over the ears with sheathed claws to scare them off for good.

* * *

Blackfrost started at the fence along the edge of the Twoleg nests of Twolegplace, and then followed the trail inward through the forest. This way, he wouldn't have to spend too much time near the Twoleg nests at all.

The black warrior flicked his ears as he scented a small bird, a thrush, pecking around at the bottom of a nearby oak tree. He crouched low and listened carefully, catching sight of his prey just a few tail-lengths ahead.

Suddenly, there was a loud crunch of leaves underpaw from somewhere behind him, and the thrush took off on its tiny flapping wings, startled by the sound.

"Mouse-dung," he cursed quietly as the bird fluttered away into the trees high above his head. "Snakefang?"

Blackfrost whipped his head around to see what had interrupted his hunt this time, subconsciously unsheathing his claws, too angry for even the idea of a rogue fox or intruder from another Clan to cross his mind.

But to his luck, it wasn't a fox. And it surely didn't look like a Clan cat, either.

An incredibly fluffy grey-white she-cat was stumbling awkwardly through the undergrowth, surely scaring off all the prey from here to Fourtrees. Blackfrost crouched down and crept closer, his gaze passing over her oddly patterned pelt, soft and pale but with darker grey ears, face, tail, and legs. No cat in all the Clans that he knew of had such a strange fur coloration like hers.

Blackfrost narrowed his eyes in recognition – it was that fluffy kittypet she-cat he had seen on top of the fence around Twolegplace only a few sunrises ago, gazing into the forest from the edge of her Twoleg nest. For some reason, she didn't have a collar on like most kittypets he'd ever seen around ThunderClan territory, but there was no mistaking her distinguishing kittypet scent.

But what was she doing this far from Twolegplace now?

He stepped forward, snarling. "What are you doing here, kittypet?"

The fluffy she-cat whipped around to face him, her eyes darting wildly, and Blackfrost froze when he saw the unusual color of her eyes – a piercing cerulean blue rimmed with icy silver. They were… actually quite pretty, he had to admit.

To his surprise, she let out a relieved sigh when her eyes met his, her expression softening as she recognized him as well.

"What are you doing in the forest?" Blackfrost repeated.

"Oh!" The kittypet jumped up at the sound of his voice, as though she hadn't expected him to speak. "I was just taking a look around… The trees here are so big, and there are so many of them! I've never seen anything like it! I was just about to head back home, though… Except I'm not quite sure where that would be... I didn't think I would go out this far, you see."

Blackfrost rolled his eyes. He didn't have time to waste on stupid, naïve kittypets wandering lost in his territory, scaring off all the prey.

"Well, get lost!" he hissed, the fur rising along his spine.

The fluffy white kittypet huffed angrily, her silvery-blue eyes blazing like icy flames. "I already _am_ lost, thank you very much."

Blackfrost felt his unsheathed claws dig into the ground involuntarily – to his surprise, this kittypet didn't seem nearly as intimidated as he had expected her to be. "Well, get lost somewhere else, then," he growled. "This is ThunderClan territory, and we don't take lightly to intruders."

For one heartbeat, a flicker of fear crossed over the kittypet's eyes, before being hastily replaced by a questioning glare. He had to commend her persistence.

"Thunder – _what_?"

The black tom glared right back at her. "Thunder _Clan_! And you need to leave."

"Fine," the kittypet sighed, "but I suppose you're going to have to show me the way back to my home first. If you even know where that would be."

Blackfrost snorted, though his fur began to lie down flat against his back as he realized this kittypet was no real threat. "Of course I know where that is. You live in Twolegplace, in a stinking Twoleg nest like any other fat, soft-hearted kittypet like yourself."

A warily puzzled and somewhat offended look entered the kittypet's expression as she sensed the disgust evident in the black tom's words, despite her unfamiliarity with the terms used, her ears tilted back slightly. "…What is –"

She was interrupted by a loud crashing sound coming from behind her, and both cats whipped around to meet it.

Coming up the path was a pair of relatively young Twolegs, their heavy footsteps echoing through the trees as they stomped along, crushing twigs and leaves on the forest floor beneath them. Blackfrost hissed softly at the sight of them and darted into a nearby clump of bracken. "Quick! In here!"

"But maybe they can take me back home!" the kittypet mewed, ignoring the warrior's frantic instructions in favor of approaching the Twoleg pair outright, fluffy grey tail raised in greeting.

Blackfrost clenched his jaw in irritation as the she-cat meowed a friendly "hello" to the Twolegs, and they lifted their front paws and screeched at the sight of her. But he didn't dare move from his hiding place.

 _Stupid kittypet. Oh, if only Stormbreeze or Robinsong could come now… or even the sunhigh patrol._ Not that he needed help – a kittypet and two Twolegs were just a lot for one young warrior to handle at once.

And there was more than that…

Blackfrost cautiously sniffed at the air again, rustling the bracken above his head, and his eyes widened in dismay.

"Do you have _bees_ in your brain?" Throwing all caution to the wind, he leapt from his hiding spot and shouted to the kittypet, who had brushed up against one of the stinking Twolegs' legs, purring. "These Twolegs have got a dog with them! We have to get out of here!"

"A dog?" the kittypet echoed, confused, ceasing her purring to look around at him. "What do you –"

She was interrupted by another loud crashing sound as some huge shape came barreling straight toward them through the undergrowth behind the Twolegs, and the harsh, resounding bark of a dog rang through the forest. Her ice-blue eyes widened in fear, and Blackfrost waved his tail at her before breaking out into a run.

"Come on!"

Before she open her mouth to argue, an enormous brown, slavering dog burst onto the open path, fangs bared and dripping with slobber within its great flapping jaws, paws large enough to crush a cat beneath them. The kittypet let out a high-pitched yowl of fear and burst into a run after the black warrior.

But her movements were slow and clumsy – not helped by her soft, fat kittypet body, Blackfrost noted glaringly – and she tripped over the twigs and tree roots dotting the forest floor.

 _Idiot Twolegs!_ Blackfrost thought furiously as they ran, glancing quickly over his shoulder behind him every few pawsteps, _Letting an awful beast like that loose into the forest!_

The kittypet she-cat was rapidly falling behind, and the dog was gaining on them with every pawstep as the Twolegs wildly flapped their paws and screeched behind it.

"Run faster!" he called out, hoping she could hear him. "Or climb a tree!"

Though she may only be a worthless kittypet in the eyes of the Clan cats, the last thing Blackfrost wanted was for her to be mauled to death by that vicious brute of a dog right in front of him, not when there was something, anything he could do to prevent that. Because that was a terrible way to go for any cat.

She must have heard his advice over the thunderous snarling of the dog behind them, for as he turned his head again he caught sight of her launching herself off her feet toward the nearest tree. But she couldn't jump very high, and when she hit the side of the maple tree her paws scrabbled uselessly against the rough bark, fighting for a hold, the nearest branch still a good fox-length or two above her head.

The kittypet she-cat clung helplessly to the side of the tree, eyes wide and frozen in pure terror, as the dog's cruel jaws lined with sharp, glinting fangs snapped shut barely a mouse-length from her fur.

"No!"

Feeling a sudden burst of energy from deep within, accompanied by a flash of burning anger, Blackfrost whipped around and launched himself straight at the dog's face without another thought.

At that same moment, the dog leapt up toward the pale she-cat clinging to the tree, its paws slamming against her body hard enough that she was easily knocked loose and fell back to the ground with a sickening thump. The creature's claws scraped against her thick fur and drew blood, a vibrant scarlet streak against her clean white fur.

Blackfrost unsheathed his own claws and pounced at the dog, yowling with fury. He slashed them across the dog's wrinkled snout, bright red blood spurting from the fresh cuts he made along its nose, and the stinking beast let out a deafening whine. Obviously, the stupid brute didn't expect the cats to actually fight back.

 _Oh, was he in for a surprise_ , Blackfrost thought smugly. _All bark and no bite, huh?_

His arrogance faded slightly as the dog growled at him, baring its fangs, and he felt the creature's hot, foul-smelling breath against his face. Wrinkling his nose in disgust, Blackfrost lifted his paw again and braced himself for the impact with a threatening hiss.

But he needn't have worried, it seemed. At that moment, one of the Twolegs stumbled into the clearing behind them with a shriek, and the dog let out a whimper as the Twoleg caught sight of them and marched forward, grabbing the beast by the collar around its neck and pulling it back. Blackfrost hissed again, and the Twoleg let out another booming yell as it turned away, back toward the other Twoleg still on the path, dragging the dog along behind it.

Releasing a sigh of relief now that he knew for certain that the Twoleg wouldn't try to capture him as well, Blackfrost stood still for a moment to let his heartbeat return to normal, licking his fur flat. Luckily, he hadn't gotten hurt, and for once, the black warrior had to feel thankful for Twolegs. Dogs might act vicious, but in the end, they were always reduced to a whimpering plaything by their Twolegs, the stupid beasts.

With a pang of annoyance, Blackfrost realized that his hunt had been a true failure – not only did he not manage to catch a single piece of prey for the Clan, but the combination of the trespassing kittypet, the bumbling Twolegs, and the dog attack had most likely scared away all the prey in the entire forest what with all the racket they were making.

Speaking of the kittypet…

Slowly, Blackfrost turned to look at the pale she-cat intruder, feeling a jolt pass through him as he looked at her body slumped unmoving at the foot of the maple tree, until he noticed the faintest rise and fall of her flank that indicated she was still breathing, if only just. She was still alive, though he couldn't say for how much longer – the kittypet had suffered quite the nasty fall from the tree, and the gashes cutting through her thick fur were still bleeding profusely, staining her once-pristine white fur a pinkish-red.

He had to get her somewhere safe, or she wouldn't make it to see the following sunrise. Though she may just be a stranger intruding on ThunderClan territory, a lazy kittypet tainted by Twolegs at that, Blackfrost couldn't bear to think of her dying already when she hadn't meant any harm in the first place. Not after what had just happened.

For a heartbeat, he considered taking her all the way back to Twolegplace, but by now the ThunderClan camp was much closer, and he didn't even know which Twoleg nest was hers anyway. There was no way he could drag her all the way back there now – she wasn't exactly the lightest cat, and surely he couldn't move her that far without knowing the full extent of her injuries. She required the attention of a medicine cat, and soon.

The Clan surely wouldn't appreciate him bringing a stranger back with him in place of any substantial fresh-kill, but this was life or death. With any luck, Robinsong and the rest of the hunting patrol had fared much better than he did.

The thought had barely passed through his mind when the tortoiseshell she-cat in question stepped forward into the clearing, a furry squirrel clamped in her jaws, followed closely by the sunhigh patrol – Sparrowflight, Flamepelt, and to Blackfrost's dismay, Snakefang.

"We heard a lot of noise coming from around here, thumping and yowling… It sounded like a full-blown battle!" Sparrowflight mewed. The light brown she-cat looked around at the black warrior, the unconscious kittypet beside him, the flattened undergrowth all around, but her golden eyes betrayed nothing. "What's going on?"

"Who is _that_?" Robinsong asked before he could respond, her amber eyes wide and questioning as she set down her squirrel to speak and gazed at the strange kittypet slumped at the black tom's feet.

Blackfrost sighed. "It's kind of a long story… But first, we have to get back to camp, and fast."

Snakefang hissed at him, the dark warrior's amber eyes narrowed suspiciously as he stepped forward and prodded the lump of bloody white fur. "It smells like a _kittypet_ ," he spat.

"Never mind that," Blackfrost hissed back, swiping the dark grey tom's paw away with unsheathed claws. "Yes she's a kittypet, and she's badly hurt, obviously."

He lifted his head to address the rest of the patrol. "I'll tell you everything once we get back to Foreststar, but right now, she needs a medicine cat's attention immediately."

"…I don't fully understand what's going on here," Flamepelt meowed, the orange tom's blue-grey eyes wide as he shared a glance with Sparrowflight, "But I suppose we have no other choice at the moment. Come on."

Sparrowflight nodded in reluctant agreement, and with another averse look at the injured kittypet, the she-cat swiftly turned to lead the way back to the ThunderClan camp. Flamepelt followed suit without another word, and Blackfrost hastily hefted the pale she-cat up onto one shoulder, holding her in place with his mouth so that her body wouldn't drag too much on the forest floor, wincing slightly as her warm blood splattered against his black pelt.

Robinsong picked up her squirrel again, shooting another inquisitive glance toward the black tom, and Snakefang nudged his sister ahead with him, his tail thrashing angrily.

Taking up the rear of the patrol, Blackfrost prayed to StarClan that Foreststar wouldn't be too upset with him that he had brought a strange injured kittypet back to camp in place of much needed fresh-kill. He had only been a full warrior for a quarter-moon, and it seemed he was already messing things up.

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 **A/N: If you've read this far, thank you so much! Please feel free to tell me what you think - I'd appreciate more reader input and constructive criticism and whatnot on this story, as it's my first Warriors fanfic and I'd like get another opinion on whether I'm doing this thing right, haha. -CCM**


	6. Ch4: Explanations and Punishment

**A/N: Ugh, for some reason my cover image won't stick for this story and it keeps reverting back to my user avatar, so I keep having to go in and change it back. How annoying.**

 **Anyway, to everyone who read, reviewed, favorited, or followed - thank you so much! -CCM**

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CHAPTER 4

Blackfrost paused for a moment outside the gorse tunnel into camp as the rest of the patrol filed through, taking a deep breath in an attempt to gather his thoughts. He didn't want to do this, but he had no other choice – the injured she-cat needed medical help as soon as possible, regardless of what the rest of the Clan might say.

There was no turning back now.

Bracing himself, he stepped through the gorse tunnel into the middle of the bustling ThunderClan camp, carrying a complete stranger with him. He was painfully aware of the silence that commenced at his entrance, and the eyes that watched his every move from all around the clearing.

Blackfrost set the kittypet down in the center of the clearing, a little to the side of the Highrock, and bent down to check on her again. Her breathing was hoarse, but at least she was still breathing, despite the matted bloodstains dirtying her pretty white fur and the fact that she still did not stir.

Glancing around, he saw that Robinsong had treaded off to set her squirrel down at the fresh-kill pile. Stormbreeze and Stonepaw, the other cats on their hunting patrol, were already there – by the looks of the abundance of fresh prey on the pile, it seemed that they had had a successful hunt, at the very least.

All three of the cats' faces bore serious expressions as they mewed together in hushed tones. Robinsong was attempting to tell them what happened.

The rest of the patrol that had returned ahead of him – Sparrowflight, Flamepelt, and Snakefang – had gone straight to the Highrock where Foreststar himself was sitting with a few of his senior warriors, all of whom looked over at Blackfrost with mixed looks of confusion and outrage on their faces.

"Well, would you look at what the cat dragged in," the drawling voice of a she-cat drifted toward his ears, and he looked up to see the lithe red-furred warrior approach him, her lurid green eyes narrowed in distaste. "…Another cat?"

Behind Foxtail, one of the elders gathered outside their den by the fallen tree hissed in alarm, her voice growing more panicked with every word, "Who is _that_? Why would you bring a stranger straight into our camp? Is she from another Clan? What is the meaning of this?"

"No, she's not from another Clan, and she's badly hurt," Blackfrost grumbled as a few of the kits peered out of the nursery to look, their soft kitten fur fluffed up in excitement. Their mothers quickly pulled them back, glaring at him. He caught sight of his adoptive mother Woodfern watching him with wide, shocked hazel eyes, and quickly lowered his own.

"She needs a medicine cat."

As though she had heard, the young tortoiseshell ThunderClan medicine cat, Rosethorn, came trotting out of the fern tunnel leading from her den, sniffing around for the injured cat. The commotion in the clearing most likely drew her out.

At the sight of the pitiful lump of fur beside the black warrior, she made a beeline straight for them, her copper eyes filled with serious concern. "What happened?"

"Yes, that's what we'd _all_ like to know," the huge grey deputy, Hawktalon, snarled, stalking over from his place beside the Highrock. "Who is this? And why in the name of StarClan above did you bring her here?"

He bent down to sniff the she-cat's fur before Blackfrost could mew anything in reply. "She reeks of kittypet!" he spat in disgust.

"Budge up, you great lump." Glaring at the deputy and nudging him aside in a way that only a medicine cat treating her patient could ever get away with, Rosethorn crouched down beside the unconscious she-cat to inspect her, very gently pressing her paws to the kittypet's fur – checking her breathing, feeling around for possible broken bones, and beginning to lick her wounds clean.

With the flick of a white paw, the tortoiseshell she-cat gestured for one of the nearest apprentices, Dustypaw, who padded forward cautiously from where most of the apprentices were gathered around the fern-covered apprentices' den, their ears pricked forward in interest.

"Go check around the brambles in the camp wall for cobwebs," she hurriedly whispered to the small, dark tortoiseshell she-cat, "and bring them straight back to me, as quickly as you can. I need them for this cat's wounds."

Dustypaw nodded quickly and darted off to find the cobwebs while Rosethorn continued licking at the unconscious kittypet's open wounds, the flow of blood from them steadily ceasing. Blackfrost blinked his green eyes at her gratefully, and she nodded in return. Rosethorn was a true medicine cat, in that it didn't matter to her who the injured she-cat was – she would try her best to treat any sick or injured cat as well as she could, no questions asked, and Blackfrost had to respect that about her.

She didn't even flinch when Hawktalon shot her a snarling glare that would have any other warrior shaking in their fur.

" _Well_?" the deputy hissed.

Before Blackfrost could open his mouth to try and explain, Foreststar himself had padded over and flicked his tail over Hawktalon's mouth to silence him.

"Enough."

He turned toward the younger warrior with a curt nod of his head, green eyes scrutinizing the scene as warriors gathered around without any need for an official Clan meeting to be called. No cat wanted to miss this.

"Explain."

"I-I was on a hunting patrol with Robinsong, Stormbreeze, and Stonepaw," Blackfrost began, stumbling slightly over his words in his rush to explain himself to his leader, "and we had decided to all split up and hunt near Twolegplace. Stormbreeze and Stonepaw went together to practice hunting techniques, and Robinsong left for Tallpines while I followed the Twoleg path through the woods from the row of Twoleg nests."

He gestured toward the kittypet currently being cared for by the medicine cat with a twitch of his ears. "I found this kittypet on ThunderClan territory, wandering lost near the Twoleg path, and I told her to leave. But before I could do anything to chase her off our land, these two Twolegs came up the path with a great big slavering dog."

A few cats in the clearing gasped audibly, and Blackfrost continued, "The dog wasn't tied down to them or anything, StarClan only knows why not, and it chased after us. It was huge, with sharp teeth and thundering paws that could practically crush a cat if it tried, and the kittypet tried to climb up a maple tree to escape. But she didn't make it far before the dog brought her back down with its claws, and she fell out of the tree."

He cringed as he recalled the dog's hot, smelly breath against his face, and flicked his tail.

"I leapt at the dog and gave it a few good scratches across the snout to remember me by, and then the Twolegs dragged it away. I didn't end up catching any fresh-kill for the Clan, since the scuffle with the Twolegs and their dog scared all the prey from that part of the forest. But I couldn't just leave her there alone to die," he pleaded, gesturing again toward the kittypet.

Just then, Dustypaw darted forward on three legs with a wad of cobwebs wrapped around her fourth forepaw, holding it out to the medicine cat. Rosethorn murmured her thanks before taking the wad from the apprentice and pulling the sticky strings into a few separate pieces, pressing each wad against the kittypet's fur to stem the bleeding, her wounds having been licked clean.

"We need to bring her into my den," Rosethorn interrupted. "I have nests made up that she can lie in, much more comfortable than this hard ground right in the middle of everything, and there are herbs in my stores that I need in order to help stave off any possible infection she may contract from the dog's claws."

Foreststar nodded respectfully to her. "Very well. Dustypaw, Grasspaw, help her, please."

He gestured for the two apprentices with his tail, and Dustypaw and the dark brown she-cat Grasspaw stepped forward obediently to help Rosethorn gently lift the heavy kittypet and carry her toward the fern tunnel to the young medicine cat's den. Blackfrost could swear that he saw the kittypet's eyes flicker slightly as they carried her away, which was hopefully a good sign.

"Is this story true?" Foreststar asked, turning toward Sparrowflight and Flamepelt for affirmation. The pair glanced at each other and then nodded.

"Yes," Sparrowflight meowed carefully, "it seems to be. Our sunhigh patrol met up with Robinsong just as we heard what sounded like a full-blown battle in the forest, and came to find Blackfrost alone and out of breath, this… she-cat, slumped beside him."

The leader turned back toward Blackfrost, Hawktalon glowering beside him. The rest of the Clan milled about in the clearing around them, watching anxiously, some of them angry, many of them confused, and a few of them sympathetic.

"Now, Blackfrost," he began, his expression betraying no emotion, no hint of either anger or confusion in his emerald green gaze, "Why have you chosen bring this strange she-cat here, into the very heart of our camp?"

"There's no rule against it in the warrior code," the young black tom challenged unthinkingly, and there came a soft gasp of surprise from someone behind him. He ignored it, and Foreststar still did not seem perturbed as he continued, "She was trespassing on our territory, yes, and I did challenge her as the warrior code demands. But after the dog attacked, I couldn't just leave her there. The ThunderClan camp was the closest safe place for her."

"True," Foreststar conceded thoughtfully, his gaze trained on Blackfrost's, unblinking, "but it is still not entirely right. It seems we have hit a bit of a grey area… While it was certainly noble of you to save the life of this she-cat from danger, it is also true that the needs of the Clan must always come first. You have risked your life for a complete stranger, an intruder on our territory, no less."

Blackfrost opened his mouth to argue that the weak kittypet had been no threat to the Clan at all, but Foreststar lifted his tail in the air for silence.

"You have brought back no fresh-kill for the Clan while on a hunting patrol, and instead brought this she-cat with you into our midst. With the season of leaf-bare swiftly approaching, we have barely any room for another mouth to feed in ThunderClan, another cat to take care of. And every bit of prey caught counts."

He paused, as though he were considering his own words himself, coming to a decision.

"I couldn't have just left her to die," Blackfrost repeated, narrowing his eyes.

"I understand that… But you must also understand that I shall still have to punish you, Blackfrost."

The large brown leader sighed. "For bringing a strange she-cat straight into the heart of our camp, and in place of much-needed fresh-kill, at that... you will unfortunately have to be exempted from the upcoming Gathering at the full moon."

" _What_?"

The black tom's green eyes widened in dismay, his cool exterior fading away, and he could barely conceal his outrage for once. The next Gathering was supposed to be his first Gathering as a full ThunderClan warrior!

The leader frowned at the young warrior's heated outburst. "We cannot have warriors bringing strangers into our camp whenever they please, and you must understand that. The she-cat may stay in the camp with Rosethorn for now, at least until she has strength enough to return home."

Blackfrost was about to fight back again, but after a glance at the glaring deputy, he thought better of it, and instead bowed his head to the ThunderClan leader respectfully.

To his surprise, Foreststar motioned for silence in the clearing once more. "And one more thing... Blackfrost, since you brought this she-cat into our Clan yourself, it will be your sole duty to help Rosethorn care for her. You will watch over her, clean out her bedding, and hunt for her."

 _Care_ for her? The stupid kittypet might be near helpless, but she still wasn't a kit! She could feed and wash herself when she came to, as far as Blackfrost was concerned. He lashed his tail angrily, fighting to keep his emotions at bay.

But there was no arguing it now - a leader's word was law, as stated in the warrior code, and the great brown tom had a look of finality in his forest-green eyes.

"This meeting of the Clan is dismissed," Foreststar declared, and he motioned with his tail with a final, strangely sympathetic look toward Blackfrost, who sat in the clearing dejectedly, his green eyes wide in disbelief. "Come, Hawktalon. We must sort out the remainder of the patrols."

The ThunderClan cats slowly began to disperse, a few of them glaring and hissing at him – Snakefang and Foxtail included – and others, like Woodfern, merely glancing in his direction before going about their usual activities.

"Have fun kit-sitting _that_ pathetic lump of Twoleg-tainted fur," Snakefang mocked him. "And don't worry - I'll have enough fun at the Gathering for the both of us."

From the corner by the fresh-kill pile, the tortoiseshell she-cat Robinsong swiftly approached him as the crowd melted away, the small shrew she had caught on patrol earlier clasped in her jaws. That catch seemed so long ago to Blackfrost…

She set the fresh-kill down at his feet.

"I brought you this," the she-cat mewed, nudging the shrew forward with one paw. "You're probably hungry after all that's happened, and it's barely after sunhigh!"

"I don't think I'm allowed to eat that," Blackfrost muttered, glancing at the prey irritably. "You know I didn't bring any fresh-kill back from the hunting patrol. Foreststar wasn't too pleased about that."

"Oh, you know it will all melt over eventually. And Foreststar never said you couldn't eat," she responded, but she pulled the prey back toward her all the same.

The two littermates sat in silence for a few heartbeats, Blackfrost flicking his tail grumpily and Robinsong fiddling with the shrew on the ground, her eyes lowered.

"And… I'm sorry that you can't go to the Gathering," Robinsong finally mewed quietly, her amber eyes trained on her paws as she rested her tail tip against his shoulder in a comforting manner. "I know it meant a lot to you. I'll tell you all about it, but it won't be nearly as much fun without you."

She sighed. "And I'm sure Snakefang didn't mean what he said... The Clan is just, a bit shaken and confused right now, him included."

 _Yes_ , Blackfrost growled to himself silently, s _ure that's what it was_.

"...I wanted us to all be together when Foreststar announced our warrior names to all the Clans, but there'll be plenty more Gatherings after this one to show off, right?"

The tortoiseshell she-cat leaned forward to give his shoulder a lick before stepping away.

"Don't worry too much, Blackfrost. I think it will all turn out okay in the end; just wait and see."

Blackfrost didn't respond, and Robinsong gently lifted the shrew at her feet and backed away to where the warriors Raincloud and Mosspelt were sitting beside the warrior's den, her amber eyes filled with sympathy for him.

Blackfrost knew his littermate meant well, but he didn't need her sympathy right now. He had enough to worry about at the moment without Robinsong pitying him as well.

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 **A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! What do you think will happen when the kittypet - Luna - wakes up? Blackfrost doesn't even know her name yet! And what about the upcoming Gathering that Blackfrost isn't allowed to go to? Any favorite characters so far? _Least_ favorite characters? Well, let me know what you think in a review!**

 **-CCM**


	7. Ch5: Wild Cats and Arguments

**A/N: Thank you for reviewing, reading your comments always make my day! I'll admit that Blackfrost is probably my favorite character in this story, though I love Luna too, and a few other characters that haven't really shown up much just yet. All in good time... -CCM**

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CHAPTER 5

Luna awoke to a ray of bright sunlight shining in her face, and birds twittering and flitting about overhead.

Wait a moment – birds? In her home? _Indoors_?

Confused, she opened her eyes and blinked heavily, glancing around at her surroundings with sleep-blurred vision. Where was this place? This wasn't right... Nothing looked familiar to her one bit.

She certainly wasn't at home in her own snug little nest with the soft, downy cushions, that was for sure.

Instead, she lay in a bed of what looked like fluffy green moss, large shady ferns arching over her head to form a makeshift roof. Above them, she could sense the small birds fluttering and singing in the trees. Nearby, there was a large rock with an enormous crack right through the middle, splitting it, and a puddle of crystal clear water at the very opposite side of the tiny clearing. It wasn't the worst place, she supposed, but it was nowhere near as comfortable as what she was used to.

Luna made a move to get up, struggling to her paws, but she sank back down into the moss when her limbs screamed out in agony. There was a sharp, itching pain prickling at her back, and when she turned her head to try and see what was the matter, she felt something slightly wet and clumpy pressed against her fur. What was wrong with her? Her whole body ached terribly, worse than she could ever have imagined her body to feel.

Where was Selene? Where were her housefolk? Surely, they should be worried sick about her by now.

Most importantly of all, what had happened to her?

Luna pointed her noise into the air and sniffed cautiously, though all she could smell were… plants. And not plants that she recognized.

"Where am I?" she mewed aloud.

"ThunderClan camp," a sharp feminine voice startled her from her daze, and she whipped around as fast as she could manage without hurting herself even further, wincing slightly. She hadn't actually expected anyone to be around to answer her.

A tortoiseshell cat with white paws and belly and intelligent copper eyes stood beside her, half hidden in the shadows of the ferns, her head tilted to the side thoughtfully.

"Or perhaps more accurately, the ThunderClan medicine cat's den."

ThunderClan?

The memories came flooding back to her, as though a dam burst in her mind and released them all at once. Escaping through the tear in the window screen and wandering out into the forest beyond the fence… Getting lost, and finding that strange black tom with the piercing green eyes… That monstrous beast of a dog attacking them, and running away, trying to climb a tree but falling as the horrible creature caught up to her…

Luna shivered, though the clearing she was in wasn't at all cold. She could remember crashing to the ground, the dog's claws scraping painfully through her thick white fur to break the skin, and the angry black tom leaping at it in spitting fury before her world went black.

The strange tortoiseshell she-cat stared at her, nearly expressionless, and Luna couldn't tell what she was thinking when she spoke. "Glad to see you're awake, by any rate. I was getting a bit worried about you there."

Luna ignored her, fighting to keep down the panic that threatened to boil over deep inside her.

"What is... ThunderClan?" She finally asked, her normally clear voice coming out in a scratchy mew.

The strange she-cat flicked her tail, though much to Luna's relief, she didn't look mad or upset. She just looked… guarded.

"It's not really my place to tell you that, I think… Have you really not heard of the four warrior cat Clans in the forest before?"

Luna shook her head, her mind spinning. She had no idea what these so-called Clans could possibly be, though she recalled a faint recent memory of the combined voices of a large group of cats surrounding her, their meows confused and angry. Was that the Clan?

"Well, you're in a Clan now, that's all I'll say," the tortoiseshell she-cat continued. "And my name is Rosethorn, by the way – I am ThunderClan's medicine cat."

Medicine cat?

She turned away, back to the split rock, and Luna stared at her as she began pulling out seemingly random leaves and berries, pawing them into neat piles.

"You're a wild cat," Luna finally croaked, looking at the she-cat – Rosethorn – with thinly veiled suspicion. "Aren't you? And I'm still in the forest."

"Fantastic observations, dear."

Luna let out a pitiful, whining mew at the revelation, and Rosethorn hissed sharply, accidentally knocking over one of her neatly stacked leaf piles. "Cut that out."

Grumpily, Luna snapped her mouth shut and slouched deeper into the nest of moss until the thick layer of spongy green covered her nose. What was she doing? These wild cats could probably eat her if she angered them too much, for all she knew!

"Are you hungry?" Rosethorn asked her, not looking up from her sorting. "I could fetch a piece of fresh-kill for you from the pile. I'm sure Foreststar will allow you to eat; you need to keep your strength up if you're going to get any better."

Fresh-kill? Luna had a feeling that that didn't come in a pale-blue can. And she had no conceivable idea who this "Foreststar" was.

"No…" She shook her head quickly, despite the hollow feeling deep in her stomach, "No, I'm not hungry."

Rosethorn's ears twitched disbelievingly, but she said nothing.

"What happened to me?" Luna flicked her dark-grey tail, gesturing toward her own back, at the spot where her skin itched and stung terribly. She didn't dare turn around to look at it herself. "I mean, I remember the dog, and meeting that black tom cat, but I don't remember anything else."

The medicine cat stopped sorting and looked back up at her, the faintest hint of sympathy in her coppery eyes. "Blackfrost, that black-furred warrior you mentioned, brought you back here to the ThunderClan camp after you were attacked… He wasn't really supposed to, of course, since you're a… trespasser, so a lot of our Clanmates weren't pleased with that decision, to say the least."

Rosethorn pawed at one of her leaves on the ground. "But we couldn't leave you to die, regardless, and so our leader allowed you to stay for the time being. One of my most important duties as a medicine cat is to heal, and you definitely have some healing to do – while you haven't broken any bones, thank StarClan, you have been pretty badly bruised and banged up, and the dog must have left some nasty gashes in your pelt."

She turned away again. "You were unconscious when Blackfrost brought you here, and I tended to your wounds. You should turn out just fine."

Blackfrost… So that was his name.

Luna's eyes widened in horror. "How long have I been… _out_?"

The medicine cat twitched her ears, her copper-colored eyes sparkling in amusement. "You've only been asleep for barely a sunrise; Blackfrost brought you back at sunhigh only yesterday, and it's just before sunhigh today. But it'll be a while before you've healed enough to be cleared to leave camp, up to a quarter-moon, I'd say."

A quarter-moon? She couldn't wait that long! She had to return home as soon as possible!

"I want my housefolk." Luna struggled again to climb out of the mossy nest, but the tortoiseshell she-cat jumped up quicker than Luna ever could have expected and pushed her back down into the nest gently, her gaze stern.

"Lie down. You're in no condition to go anywhere just yet."

"I have to go home; they'll miss me, they'll worry about me. I can't leave them!" Luna mewed frantically. "I have to go back! I don't need _your_ help, they can take care of me just fine!"

An image of her housefolk Joanne and Robert, running around the house with Selene and calling out her name in a state of distress, crossed her mind, and Luna shrunk back at the very thought.

But the she-cat Rosethorn shushed her with the flick of her tail across her mouth. "I'm telling you this for your own good – you cannot leave yet. Even with a warrior escort, you'll never make it. Look at you, you can barely even climb out of your own nest! How do you expect to walk all the way back to Twolegplace like that?"

She shook her head. "And who knows what you might run into on the way. No, you'll have to wait."

Before Luna could speak up again to argue with her, there was a rustling sound at the fern-lined tunnel into the clearing, and both she-cats looked around quickly to see a black tom enter, his bright green eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"Is the kittypet awake?"

Luna narrowed her eyes at the dark-furred tom, Blackfrost, her fur bristling at his irritated tone, and the way he made each word that came out of his mouth sound like an insult – he looked just as angry as he had been the first time she met him. Was he always this mad about things?

"Yes," Rosethorn conceded, glancing at the tom with a hint of warning in her gaze, "but she only just came around. She's been through quite a lot. You should probably leave her be for now, I can handle it for the time being."

Blackfrost rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath just loudly enough for the pair to hear. "Just making sure she's not dead after all that I went through to save her fluffy pelt. You know Foreststar tasked me with the trouble of caring for that pain in the tail myself."

Luna's mouth fell open in shock – how dare this cat speak about her like that?!

"I'm sitting right here, you know," she hissed. "Quit talking _about_ me and just talk _to_ me if you really must."

"Fine, then." To her surprise, Blackfrost turned and sat down directly in front of her, tucking his paws beneath him neatly, and Luna fought to not back down at his piercing green gaze. "Though it's your fault we're in this situation in the first place. What were you thinking, wandering away from your Twolegs like that?"

Luna didn't recognize the terms he was using, but she certainly didn't like the way he spat them out as though they were things to be looked down upon. "If by Twolegs you mean my housefolk, I didn't mean to leave them at all. In fact, I'd like to get back to them as soon as possible, as they're probably worried stiff about me. I just wanted to explore the outside a bit, is all."

She turned away. "But it seems that I shouldn't have even bothered, for all the trouble it was worth."

Blackfrost glared at her, looking her up and down as though he were sizing her up. "You got that right…" he grumbled. "…If you're a kittypet, why don't you have a collar?"

"I don't know," Luna grumbled right back at him. "Why do _you_ ask so many useless questions?"

The black cat ignored her inquiry, and instead spat out, "You're lucky you're even still alive. Trespassing on a Clan's territory, and then almost getting yourself killed by a rampaging dog? Not exactly the smartest idea. In fact, you're lucky you didn't trespass on ShadowClan territory – they're even harsher on intruders than ThunderClan is. You probably wouldn't still be around if you had."

Rosethorn looked on from her little piles of leaves and berries with faint concern as she observed the exchange in silence, tail tip twitching, as Luna retorted, "I _can_ take care of myself, you know. I'm not completely helpless."

"Oh, really?" Blackfrost snorted. "Could have fooled me."

Luna narrowed her frosty blue eyes at him and then turned haughtily in her mossy nest with a swish of her tail, glancing back at the tom over her shoulder, ignoring the pain prickling her pelt from the sudden movement. "I don't need _you_ to protect me."

"Really? Well, if I don't do it, who will?"

In all honesty, she didn't really know how to respond to that... The pale she-cat raised one paw and licked it daintily, one eye closed and the other focused on Blackfrost's face with an icy gaze, studying his reactions.

"Whatever," she scoffed. "Like I told you before, I can take care of myself just fine."

Blackfrost rolled his eyes and flicked the tip of his tail in irritation. "I'll tell you this much – you're lucky I was there in time to save you, or you would have been crowfood... Or should I say, _dog_ food."

"I didn't _need_ saving. Not by you."

"Oh, what a load of fox dung!" he burst out, and Luna shrunk back in alarm. "That dog would have made mouse-meat of you!"

" _Excuse_ me?"

They glared at each other for a moment, silvery-blue eyes meeting emerald green, as Rosethorn watched with ever-growing worry, though she still said nothing.

"I'm not helpless," Luna grumbled again. "I've seen dogs before, walking around the neighborhood with their housefolk. They're generally very loud, stupid creatures from what I could tell, barking at anything they come across, but not actually doing much. I just wasn't expecting this dog to be so big and monstrous, it took me by surprise… The housefolk usually keep them under control, tied on their strings, you see."

She rolled her eyes. "And on top of that, it's not as though I _planned_ for the dog to attack me – he attacked _you,_ too!"

Blackfrost opened his mouth again, most likely to spit out a bitter retort, but Rosethorn finally interrupted, stepping between the two with her claws unsheathed and her tortoiseshell fur bristling.

"Blackfrost, as your Clan medicine cat, I must insist that you leave." She glared at him, her copper eyes burning. "Kittypet or _Clanborn_ , I won't have you riling up my patients without reason. This is quite enough."

At that, Blackfrost flinched as though the medicine cat had swatted at him and glared right back her, the fur rising along his spine in anger, but didn't dare argue with the she-cat. Apparently, medicine cats like Rosethorn had a certain level of authority over their Clanmates, despite not being leader.

"Sorry, Rosethorn," he muttered, averting his eyes. "I'll leave now. It won't happen again."

He turned away, back toward the fern tunnel, without looking back once. "And make sure the kittypet eats something, or Foreststar will probably have my pelt."

Sighing, Rosethorn looked back at her patient, the fire dying from her eyes. "You've upset your wounds again… I'll have to reapply the poultice."

She stepped back toward the split rock and her piles of berries and leaves, pushing them all back into their respective places but for a certain few, which she instead began to crush beneath her paws, oddly enough. Luna watched her tiredly, her pelt prickling. Suddenly, she felt as though all the pain of her injuries had come rushing back into her.

Luna sighed softly as the tortoiseshell she-cat trotted back over to sit beside her. "Are you in any pain?"

The pale she-cat nodded, and Rosethorn nudged a couple of tiny, rounded black seeds toward her with her nose. "Here… Eat these. They're poppy seeds. They'll take the pain away for a bit, and help you sleep soundly."

Luna nodded and quickly licked up the strange black seeds without a second thought. She didn't have the strength in her to think anymore; her head ached terribly now, along with the rest of her body.

"When can I go back?" she asked, fighting to keep the whine out of her voice this time.

"Well, after you're all healed up and I clear you, Foreststar will probably send a patrol of one or two warriors to escort you back to Twolegplace, and that will be that."

Back home, back to Selene and Robert and Joanne...

Luna didn't respond as she laid her chin against her paws gloomily and sat still so Rosethorn could apply the mysterious poultice to her fur, which felt disgustingly sticky but soothed her scratches at the same time. She didn't want to spend any more time in this ThunderClan than she had to – not if all the warriors were argumentative grumps like Blackfrost.

She felt her eyelids drop and her fur start to lay flat again, and didn't fight the intense, calming sleepiness that suddenly overcame her.

The sooner she left, the better it would be for all involved.

* * *

 **A/N: So it looks like Luna and Blackfrost aren't getting along so great right from the start... He doesn't even know her name, and he's already starting arguments with her. And as for my question this chapter, what do you think of the medicine cat, Rosethorn?**

 **-CCM**


	8. Ch6: Fresh-Kill and Apprentices

CHAPTER 6

Blackfrost heaved a sigh as he marched down the sloped side of the ravine after the rest of the patrol. The pale grey she-cat Raincloud and her apprentice Grasspaw were already way ahead of him, and he fought hard not to slip on the uneven ground as he watched Raincloud's dark tail disappear into the gorse tunnel, picking up his pace a little to follow her into the camp.

After having to visit the kittypet in the medicine cat den earlier that day, Hawktalon had sent Blackfrost off to join the sunhigh patrol before he even had a chance to sit down and eat properly, and then he had been patrolling the forest along the WindClan and RiverClan borders for what must have been hours without so much as a whiff of mouse.

At least Raincloud had been somewhat sympathetic toward him, considering the mess he had caused the day before, though he felt her wide hazel eyes watching him while his back was turned more than once. It seemed that all the cats in ThunderClan were staring at him a lot more than usual, much to his annoyance.

The sun had already begun to set below the treetops by the Blackfrost stumbled through the tunnel into the clearing, and dark shadows were steadily lengthening over the ThunderClan camp. Soon the nights would grow colder, and fresh-kill would be much more difficult to find once the first snow fell.

Ignoring any glances his Clanmates might or might not be shooting him, Blackfrost padded straight toward the fresh-kill pile, his stomach feeling uncomfortably hollow. Raincloud, meanwhile, merely looked at him somewhat disapprovingly, and headed for Foreststar's den beneath the Highrock to give their leader the full report.

Not that there was anything _to_ report - the patrol had been pathetically uneventful.

Blackfrost was only a tail-length or two away from the temptingly well-stocked fresh-kill pile when he caught a blur of white out of the corner of his eye. Turning, he spotted the fluffy kittypet she-cat seated awkwardly outside the fern tunnel to the medicine cat den, half hidden in the shady fronds, her tail curled around her dainty grey paws and her startlingly blue eyes wide and anxious. She nervously glanced around the clearing as though she expected a horde of badgers to come bursting through the camp wall in a heartbeat. It was pitiful to look at, really.

The black warrior narrowed his eyes as he watched the she-cat, though she paid no notice to him. Her pale pelt was matted down a bit by the cobwebs stuck to her fur, coating the dog's claw marks, but at least she was looking a bit better than she was earlier.

Just then, Blackfrost caught sight of Foreststar squeezing out from his den in the crevice beneath the Highrock, and he decided unenthusiastically that he should probably take care of the kittypet before he did anything else for himself, now that the ThunderClan leader was watching.

"So… You're awake."

The pale kittypet nodded as she turned toward the sound of Blackfrost's voice, her eyes narrowing warily as the young warrior approached her, most likely remembering their previous argument. "Rosethorn - the medicine cat? – she told me she was going off to collect herbs by a stream outside the camp, and said that I should… come out and get some sunlight for a bit, before night fell."

"Okay…" Honestly, Blackfrost couldn't see the harm in that, though he noticed quite a few cats shooting glances her way, and most of them weren't so friendly. "You want something to eat?"

"I'm not hungry," the she-cat mewed quietly. Her stomach released a loud grumble right on cue, and Blackfrost stifled the strong urge to roll his eyes.

"Your stomach says otherwise." He gestured with his tail toward the inviting fresh-kill pile only a few fox-lengths away, fighting to put on a friendly front. "Come on, go pick out something to eat so Foreststar and Rosethorn don't have my tail. I'm already in enough trouble as it is; it would look bad for me if you died of starvation after all I went through."

The kittypet narrowed her frosty blue eyes at him again, most likely wondering whether they really could let her starve, and then took a wide-eyed look over his shoulder at the heaping pile of fresh-kill behind him. Two hunting patrols had just returned with their exceptionally large hauls, and so the pile had nearly any type of prey a cat could possibly have a craving for – mouse, bird, vole, squirrel, even rabbit.

Well, except maybe fish. But those were for RiverClan cats; Blackfrost found their slippery scales and pungent taste somewhat disturbing, anyway.

But to his surprise, the she-cat shrunk back in disgust. "I told you already, and I'll tell you again. I'm not hungry."

Blackfrost sighed. He knew she-cats could be stubborn, but this one really took the kill. It seemed that not even Foxtail was this difficult to deal with. And that was certainly saying something.

"You quite obviously are," he growled, growing more and more annoyed despite his attempts to reign in his emotions this time. Before she could manage a retort, he stalked off toward the fresh-kill pile on his own, the kittypet staring after him.

When he returned to her, he held two plump mice in his jaws, one of which he dropped at her feet. "Here, I'm telling you to eat this and I'll tell you again if I have to. You have to keep your strength up."

The kittypet prodded the mouse with one paw unenthusiastically, then quickly pulled it back again, her expression cautious. "But-"

"Just _eat_ it," Blackfrost cut her off with an exasperated growl, settling down beside her to start on his own mouse, but still she just stared. "Quit being so difficult already."

Hesitating, she raised her paw again. "So you… you wild cats really do _eat_ this stuff?"

"Yes," Blackfrost responded irritably, his mouth already full of mouse and his tail twitching as he eyed the second mouse at her feet, "What in the world did you expect us to eat? The bark from trees, perhaps? Rocks?"

The kittypet rolled her eyes with a huffy mew. "Don't be so utterly ridiculous."

"Well, then what?" He snorted. "You would never catch a warrior eating those stale crunchy nibbles and wet slop that the Twolegs feed kittypets like yourself."

"Hey," the she-cat's ears flattened against her head as she turned to glare at him, "the food my housefolk gave me wasn't that bad at all. In fact, it was downright lovely."

Blackfrost hid a condescending smirk at how defensive the fragile little kittypet became when anyone so much as scoffed at the Twolegs she admired and her life with them. All the more reason for her to return to them, he supposed – after all, she could never be a proper warrior. What kind of warrior cat so clearly defended Twolegs like that?

Regardless, he nudged the other piece of fresh-kill nearer to the stubborn she-cat. "Just try it, at least. You haven't eaten since I found you in the forest. And like I said before, we can't let you starve – we aren't as cruel-hearted as ShadowClan warriors, after all."

He watched as she took a tentative sniff at the dead mouse, and added, "Trust me, after you take a bite of real fresh-kill, you won't want to eat any of that Twoleg dung ever again."

Her ears twitched in annoyance at the mention of Twoleg dung, but she still bent down and took a hesitant first bite of the plump piece of prey as her stomach let out another loud grumble.

"It-It's not that bad…" she admitted tentatively after a few heartbeats, as though she couldn't believe she was actually saying that. "I-I suppose I could handle these… Just for now, you know."

Blackfrost couldn't help but smirk knowingly as she tucked into her meal; no cat, not even a kittypet, could resist a fresh mouse. And especially not when the kittypet in question hadn't eaten in a sunrise.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!"

The pale she-cat whipped her head around to search the clearing frantically at the sudden announcement, her dark ears flattened against her head. "What's going on?"

Blackfrost shot her an irritated glance as more of his Clanmates began to pile into the clearing, though he didn't really mean it. She didn't know the first thing about living in a Clan, after all, he reminded himself.

The tortoiseshell she-cat Robinsong picked her way out of the warrior's den and padded over to sit beside them, nodding in greeting to the pair as she settled down on Blackfrost's other side; she was never impolite to anyone, not even an ignorant kittypet.

The rest of the Clan, however, seemed to intentionally sit as far away from the kittypet as possible, as though they thought that if they just ignored her, she would disappear. If only that were really true.

Woodfern trotted out of the nursery at the other end of the clearing with her mate, Rowanfur, taking a seat near the bottom of the Highrock where the deputy Hawktalon was stationed, the brown tabby leader Foreststar perched at the top commandingly.

Blackfrost noticed that two kits had followed her out, their brown fur, still kitten soft, fluffed up in excitement.

"Calm down," he finally mewed to the restless kittypet, who still looked freaked out by the swift proceedings. "Foreststar is just calling the Clan to gather around the Highrock – that's that big boulder right there in the middle – for an apprentice ceremony, it looks like… Not that a kittypet like yourself would know a thing about that."

The she-cat stared right back at him with eyes of icy fire. "My name is not _kittypet_ , it's Luna. It's about time you got that right."

With a twinge of guilt, Blackfrost realized that he hadn't even asked for her name yet; they never even properly introduced themselves, not that he especially wanted to. And he had been so quick to blame her for all his problems, to let his anger out on her in the medicine cat den.

He shook his head quickly, nudging those thoughts out of his mind, as Robinsong shot him a concerned look on his other side. This _was_ her fault. And he didn't need anything like that in his life; he had enough troubles on his own as it was.

"Fine, Luna then," Blackfrost sighed, not wishing to get into another argument right when all of ThunderClan was gathered around them, shooting them condescending glares and questioning looks every once in a while. It made his pelt prickle. "And I'm Blackfrost. Lucky for me, Foreststar put me in charge of you until you can go home."

"So I've heard… And I already know your name," Luna announced haughtily. "Rosethorn told me."

Despite her confident – and infuriatingly impudent – tone, Luna still looked a bit nervous around him, as though she the memory of their argument earlier that day was still prominent in her mind. Or maybe she was just uneasy from being around all these wild and unfamiliar cats. Blackfrost supposed he couldn't exactly blame her for that.

"So what's happening?"

"Shhh!" Blackfrost shushed her with a glare. "Just listen."

He didn't much feel like explaining these things to her, anyway. It wasn't his job to teach her Clan ways, StarClan forbid; she would never fit into ThunderClan.

Up on the Highrock, the large brown tabby leader settled himself on the hard stone with his tail wrapped comfortably around his paws, and then opened his mouth to speak, his forest green eyes shining.

"Not long ago, our three eldest ThunderClan apprentices were made into full-fledged warriors," he began, glancing briefly toward where Blackfrost and Robinsong were seated at the very edge of the clearing, "And now, we gather together to name two new apprentices into the Clan, now that they have both reached six moons of age, so that we may continue our custom of training our own for the hardships to come."

He looked down from the Highrock again, warmth in the noble leader's eyes. "Wrenkit, Acornkit; please step forward, you two."

Blackfrost turned to watch as his foster mother, Woodfern, nudged the two kits forward with one last comforting lick on each of their heads, her mate Rowanfur sitting beside her proudly.

One kit was a small, light brown she-cat who looked just like her mother, but for white paws and solemn green eyes, who stepped forward slowly as she gazed up at the Highrock in awe. The other was a brown tabby tom with copper eyes that more resembled his father, and he struggled to keep himself contained like his sister and not bounce up and down in his eagerness.

Blackfrost's heart felt strangely heavy at the sight – not long ago, Woodfern had looked at him with that same loving proudness at his becoming a warrior, and had licked the top of his head in that same manner even before that at his own apprentice ceremony, even though he wasn't a cat of her own flesh and blood.

He had been a warrior for barely a quarter-moon, and he already felt as though he were letting her, and everyone else in the Clan, down.

"Acornkit, it is time you were apprenticed," Foreststar acknowledged, interrupting Blackfrost's thoughts. The great leader watched as the small brown tabby kit practically shook in his excitement. "From this day forward, until he receives his warrior name, this new apprentice will be called Acornpaw."

Foreststar then turned to address the group of warriors gathered at the edge of the crowd, his gaze searching for the right one.

"Flamepelt, I have decided that you are now ready to take on your first apprentice. You will begin Acornpaw's training."

The orange tabby tom stepped forward in surprise – the younger warrior obviously hadn't expected to be chosen as a mentor. Acornpaw, meanwhile, bounced on his toes in enthusiasm at the mention of his mentor, obviously pleased with his leader's choice for him.

"Flamepelt," Foreststar continued, "you had received excellent training from Stumptail, who now resides in the elders' den, and you have proved yourself to be a strong fighter and loyal warrior in battle. I expect you to pass on all you have learned to this young apprentice."

"I will," Flamepelt nodded, and though he acted calm, his blue-grey eyes betrayed a similar excitement to the one evident in his new apprentice. It seemed that he and Acornpaw were a good match. The two touched noses as was customary and then edged off to the side so the ceremony could continue.

"And as for this apprentice," Foreststar turned to the smaller she-kit, whose whiskers quivered in nervous anticipation, "Wrenkit, like your brother, you are also ready to be apprenticed. From this day on, until she receives her warrior name, she shall be known as Wrenpaw."

Foreststar looked up again, and his forest-green eyes met the golden eyes of Sparrowflight in the crowd; Woodfern's younger sister.

"Sparrowflight, you are also ready to take on an apprentice, as your last apprentice has been made a warrior; you shall train Wrenpaw. Ivywhisker was your mentor, now another highly respected elder, and you have shown yourself to be a quick and agile hunter for the Clan, as well. I expect you to pass on all you know to your new apprentice."

Blackfrost watched as the light brown warrior stepped forward to touch noses with little Wrenpaw, their pelts almost matching in the dying light. They would be another good match.

He glanced up again, and felt the smallest jolt of shock pass through him. Hawktalon was still standing at the side of the Highrock, but Blackfrost couldn't deny the hard, cold look in the deputy's amber eyes as he wanted the apprentice ceremony unfold, a much different look from the pride he had sported at his own kits' warrior ceremony. But what did the deputy have against these two kits?

"Acornpaw! Wrenpaw! Acornpaw! Wrenpaw!"

As the Clan chanted their names, Hawktalon shot a glare toward the two new apprentices, now being congratulated by their parents Woodfern and Rowanfur, and stalked off into the growing darkness through the gorse tunnel without another word.

* * *

 **A/N: I'm sorry I took so long to update this story - I was away at marching band camp for a while, and we got much less free time than I expected (and by that, I mean just about none at all).**

 **This** **chapter and the next were actually meant to be just one chapter, but it was getting a bit too long for my tastes, so I decided to cut it off here. It was kind of difficult deciding on a good place to end the chapter, but I'm a little picky and really wanted my chapters for this story to stay somewhere between 2,300 and 3,300 words. And now the next chapter is weirdly divided between two POVs instead of one point of view per chapter, but oh well.**

 **What do you think of the story so far? Please let me know your thoughts in a review, and the next chapter should come soon!**

 **-CCM**


	9. Ch7: Clans and Elders

CHAPTER 7

As the apprentice-naming ceremony came to an end, Blackfrost vaguely heard Robinsong mew a quick goodbye before padding off to congratulate the two new ThunderClan apprentices, but the black warrior remained where he was for a moment as his Clanmates' supportive cheers washed over him.

"So they're… _apprentices_ now? Is that right?"

The sound of the kittypet's questioning voice startled Blackfrost from his thoughts. He had almost forgotten she was even there beside him throughout the entire ceremony; all his attention had been focused on his Clanmates involved in the ceremony. Even Hawktalon's strange reaction that evening evaporated from his mind like dew in the morning sunlight as he turned to face Luna.

"What?"

Rolling her eyes, Luna dipped her head toward the pair of young apprentices, who were sitting side by side beside their mentors as each member of the Clan stepped up to offer them praise.

"Yes," Blackfrost nodded briskly, but when the confusion in the kittypet's eyes didn't fade away, he added, "…It means they're now officially in training to become warriors; a warrior like I am. The Clan leader chooses a good mentor for each newly named apprentice when they reach the age of six moons, and the mentor will then train their apprentice in Clan ways until it is decided that they are ready to receive their full warrior name."

The black tom's pelt pricked in discomfort and he averted his gaze as he felt Luna turn to stare at him intently, her eyes wide and ears pricked forward in surprising interest. Surely this explanation would be enough for her…

But unfortunately for him, her questions didn't stop there. Luna flicked her tail toward the great brown tabby tom who had just leapt down from the top of the Highrock. "And that big brown cat... Foreststar? He's the leader of the… of the Clan, then?"

Blackfrost nodded again. "Yes... And not that it matters to you, being a kittypet and outsider to the Clan and all, but you should still treat him with the utmost respect. You're lucky he's been so lenient with you, after all."

Luna let out an impatient _mrrow_ , her tone quickly changing from purely curious to somewhat annoyed. "Don't just assume I don't care about these sorts of things simply because I'm an _outsider_ to you. And I'm not _stupid_. I don't appreciate being talked down to." She narrowed her piercing blue eyes at him.

Well... that certainly wasn't the response Blackfrost had expected. And judging from the strangely persistent vibe he got from her, the kittypet wasn't going to stop asking about the Clan until she got all the answers she wanted, so he figured with a sigh of defeat that he might as well just tell her what she wanted to know.

Maybe then she'd leave him alone the rest of the night.

"All right, fine… Foreststar is leader of ThunderClan, and then Hawktalon, that huge grey tabby who was here just a little while ago below the Highrock, is his deputy, like a kind of second in command. But the majority are warriors like me who patrol borders and hunt and fight for the Clan."

The more he described, the harder it was to stop, it seemed; whether she actually cared about it or not.

"When warriors get too old or injured for their duties, they retire as an elder and are respected by all their Clan for their loyalty and service. There are also queens, the she-cats who stay in the nursery when they have kits to care for, and then when the kits are old enough they become apprentices like Acornpaw and Wrenpaw."

"…And Rosethorn is the medicine cat, as you probably already know, which means she cares for the sick and injured and... offers advice to the Clan." Blackfrost didn't bother to even try and explain the concept of StarClan to her, as he was sure the kittypet wouldn't be able to wrap her head around the idea. "Each part plays a vital role in Clan life."

He could barely understand why he was explaining all of this to a kittypet – surely the naïve fluffball wouldn't ever truly comprehend such concepts as the importance of Clan loyalty or the warrior code or StarClan – but she looked satisfied enough at his quick run-through of the Clan, the hard look in her icy eyes gradually softening.

Luna glanced down at her paws very suddenly, then quickly tucked them beneath her long white fur. "Rosethorn… she mentioned there being four Clans in the forest when I was awake earlier. And you said yourself that there was a… a DarkClan, or something like that?"

"ShadowClan," Blackfrost correcting immediately, glancing around the clearing; he was now painfully aware of the looks being shot their way, and wanted nothing more than to retreat to the warriors' den and curl up in his nest.

Acornpaw and Wrenpaw had bounced off excitedly to join the other three apprentices in the apprentices' den after mewing goodbyes to their respective mentors, most likely eager to get in a good night of sleep before their tour of the territory the next morning, and Robinsong was most likely snug in her mossy nest by now. The patrol for that evening – Treeshade, Bluemist, and Mistydawn – had already left, and the sky was darkening quickly.

"Fine, then… So there's ShadowClan and ThunderClan?"

Blackfrost nodded, trying to mask his slight exasperation at her seemingly constant barrage of questions. "ThunderClan resides in this section of the forest, and ShadowClan territory lies in a swampy marsh to the north, beyond the big Thunderpath. On the other side of ThunderClan territory, across from the river, is RiverClan, and then WindClan occupies the moorlands beyond them. There are differences between us, but we all have the same organization of warriors, apprentices, queens, elders…"

Luna fixed her silvery blue gaze on him, and before he could stop himself, he added, "…I only became a warrior a quarter-moon ago; Foreststar was my mentor. He expects a lot out of me. I don't… I don't want to let him down."

Luna looked away, staring down at the grass so that he couldn't see the expression on her face. "It must be so different, being born into a Clan," she murmured, much to his shock. She then rose to her paws and retreated back through the fern tunnel to the medicine cat den without another word.

"…Blackfrost?" The black-furred warrior was still staring after the kittypet when Robinsong poked her head out of the warriors' den, calling his name. He jumped, then shook his head quickly. He needed to get his act together.

"What are you still doing out there?"

"I'm coming," Blackfrost responded curtly, and he stalked toward the warriors' den without another word or backward glance as his foster sister watched him push his way through the entrance with concern.

 _It must be so different, being born into a Clan._

These words echoed around his head as the black tom curled up in his nest, tail tickling his nose. The sounds of his Clanmates' breathing filled the den all around him, but Blackfrost felt so from away from everyone, despite their physical closeness.

Why would Luna say something like that? To him? It felt eerily similar to some of Blackfrost's own thoughts growing up in ThunderClan. How many times did he wonder that same thing himself?

He snorted and closed his eyes. He _was_ born into the Clan. He was raised by ThunderClan all his life, after all. He was a true ThunderClan warrior through and through. And yes, Luna could never understand that sort of close connection between Clanmates; her life was the complete opposite of the warrior code that he was raised by.

Little did that kittypet know that Blackfrost wasn't Clanborn, either. Not that it would ever matter to her, regardless – _she_ wasn't staying.

* * *

Luna shoved her way through the large fern fronds lining the tunnel into the medicine cat den, more than ready to settle down into her soft, moss-lined nest and sleep for a few days, at least. While surely not the worst place to sleep, this _den_ certainly paled in comparison to her cozy little nest at home, perfectly warm and loving and devoid of any poking plants or creepy-crawlies and so many strange cats who looked at her as though she were a hairball on the carpet.

And it didn't help one bit that she just felt so achy and exhausted and downright _awful._

If only she really were at home, where Joanne would hold her on her lap and lovingly brush her long silky fur and make sure she felt all better. Robert might offer her a special treat from the little tin her housefolk kept on the counter, a rare indulgence that he would surely allow her for all the troubles she'd endured. For all this, he might even offer her two.

And Selene would curl up next to her on the sofa and give her a lick behind the ears and listen to her crazy dream stories of a Clan of wild cats all living out in the woods. Many Clans, each with their own leaders and warriors...

Because maybe it really was all a dream, and when she fell asleep in this nest of moss, she would wake up again in her own bed with Selene beside her and her housefolk calling them into the kitchen for breakfast.

Luna snorted in disbelief as she plopped herself down into the moss. Yes, because that was likely.

She tensed as she heard a rustle in the fern tunnel, but relaxed as she recognized the tortoiseshell pelt of the ThunderClan medicine cat.

Rosethorn strode into the clearing, her jaws full of some sort of green, leafy herb. She quickly disappeared into her den without a word or so much as a glance in her direction, then returned from within the crevice in the rock with a different bunch of herbs and some sort of dried flowerhead.

"So... How are you getting along?"

Luna shrugged, though her shoulders felt so stiff she couldn't really move them. "I-I'm okay," she mewed uncertainly. Rosethorn hid an amused purr.

"Of course you are…" She stepped forward to readdress Luna's deep scratches, prodding at the cobweb bandages stuck to her back. "Let me just freshen these up a little…"

Luna sat quietly as the medicine cat worked on her, sighing as she felt the now familiar poultice seep into her slowly healing wounds.

"I heard that Woodfern's two kits had their apprentice ceremony tonight while I was out gathering herbs…" Rosethorn said conversationally. "Did you see it?"

Luna nodded, and the medicine cat pushed the dried flowerhead toward her and shook out a few of the tiny black poppy seeds. "Need these?"

The pale she-cat merely stretched forward and lapped them up quickly, and Rosethorn purred in faint amusement. "I'll take that as a yes."

She scooped up the remaining herbs and carried them back into the split rock. "You know," she added, "you mustn't get too dependent on poppy seeds to ease your pain. A little bit of pain is actually a good thing. It helps me see just how well you're healing up."

She returned and stopped in front of Luna again, her copper eyes more serious this time. "No more of those after this, at least for now."

Luna had just opened her mouth to protest when they were interrupted by a yowl at the fern tunnel, and a skinny brown tabby tom with a round face and enormous yellow eyes staggered into the clearing. His fur was grayed in patchy spots with age, and he walked slowly as though each jerky movement he made caused him pain.

This must be one of those elders that Blackfrost spoke of.

"Rosethorn," the elderly warrior rasped, "My joints are acting up again, I'm afraid. I can't seem to get comfortable in nest, and Ivywhisker has it even worse; she won't quit complaining about her aches and pains."

He paused before the pair of she-cats and dipped his head respectfully, looking almost apologetic. "I'm sorry to disturb you at this hour, but do you have any more of those herbs you used the last time? They seemed to work quite well."

The young tortoiseshell she-cat nodded, her eyes sparkling good-naturedly in the light of the moon, barely visible through the web of interweaving branches up above them. "That's perfectly fine, Owlface. Though I do hope the apprentices haven't been bringing in damp moss for your nests lately…"

The old brown tom let out a wheezing chuckle, though his bright yellow eyes shone with a similar cheerfulness. "Oh, no… Trust me, those young'uns have been very good as of late. They have to be, if they don't want to deal with Ivywhisker's sharp tongue!"

Rosethorn purred in amusement and then retreated back to her storage space in the rock in search of the right herbs as the older cat – Owlface, such a strange name – turned to face Luna at last.

"So you're that kittypet that Blackfrost brought back with him, eh?" To Luna's surprise, the tomcat didn't seem angry at her one bit; it was rather a pleasant change from the glares and whispers she was getting used to from everyone else. "I'm sorry to disturb your sleep. You need to spend some time healing; that young warrior brought you back in quite a sorry state!"

Luna nodded sleepily, too tired to meow a reply, and the old tom continued, his voice now lowering to a serious undertone, "Now, you may be just a kittypet, but listen here; all cats have the same spark in them, the way I see it. And being raised by different values doesn't make you a lesser cat, even if your lifestyle isn't so noble. We all have our own place in life, and we're suited to different things-"

"Owlface?" They turned in unison to see the medicine cat poke her head out of the rocky crevice. "I hope you're not talking my patient's ears off out there."

Owlface chuckled as he glanced back at Luna, whose eyes had drifted shut. "Perhaps, or perhaps not. Do you have the herbs ready yet?"

Rosethorn nodded and stepped back out with a small leafy bundle held carefully in her jaws, her tail swishing playfully as she carried her mixture of herbs across the clearing to the aching elder.

"Owlface is as chatty as a sparrow in newleaf," she explained to Luna as she set down her bundle, shooting the old cat in question a teasing glare.

"And here, this is the same mixture I used the last time." Rosethorn pushed the large, stiff leaf laden with some mushy herbal remedy forward with one white paw. Owlface accepted it from her gratefully. "It's a poultice of ragwort and juniper berries. Just rub it wherever you hurt most, and that should be enough to soothe both your own stiff, aching joints, and Ivywhisker's as well."

"Thank you," he purred in response, and turned back to retreat through the fern tunnel with one last piercing golden look at the pair of she-cats in the medicine den.

"You take care of yourselves."

"You too, Owlface," Rosethorn mewed, though he coppery gaze had an edge to it. "You know it'll only get worse when the first snowfall of leaf-bare hits the forest."

"Leaf-bare?" Luna couldn't help but ask, despite the aching tiredness that threatened to put her to sleep on the spot, as Owlface padded out through the ferns. The medicine cat nodded solemnly, her copper eyes now completely serious.

"Yes… It's a hard time for all the Clans, when the cold winds blow and bring snow and ice with it, not to mention sickness and scarcity of prey. But we'll get through it, just as we always have."

She turned her head to the side quickly, letting out a strange huff that made Luna feel as though she were being laughed at. "Not that you'll have to worry about any of that, in your snug little Twoleg nest."

Luna, however, didn't have the strength in her to argue any more, especially not with the cat that was kind enough to heal her.

Rosethorn waved her tail at the pale white she-cat before disappearing into the large crevice in the rock – apparently, she didn't just store her herbs in there, but slept there, too. "...Have a good sleep, now."

"Good night…" Luna whispered, so quietly that even she herself could barely hear it.

 _So this is what a Clan is like_ …

She thought back to what the creaky elder, Owlface, had just told her. Did he really mean what he had said? Or had he just been old and babbling?

Luna looked up to the sky once more before sleep finally overtook her, wondering what the stars looked like beyond the thick layer of ferns and leafy tree branches that stretched out above her. As she watched, a chilling breeze blew through the clearing, and more than a couple leaves broke off from their branches and fluttered down to earth in front of her, landing softly on the grass.

Luna shivered and curled up deeper into the mossy nest, allowing her exhaustion to finally overtake her. She couldn't wait to be home again at long last.

* * *

 **A/N: It's about time I updated this! Autumn just consistently happens to be my busiest time of year, but I'm not abandoning any of my stories!**

 **So what did you think of Owlface? Also, I'm interested to see which point of view my readers prefer – Luna or Blackfrost. Personally, I prefer writing from Blackfrost's POV, simply because it's slightly easier for me. But Luna is fun to write, too. -CCM**


	10. Ch8: Annoyance and Emptiness

CHAPTER 8

The following quarter-moon seemed to move by at a snail's pace. At least, that was how it certainly felt to Blackfrost, what with his _extra_ duties.

Each sunrise and sunset he had to stop by the medicine cat den to see how the kittypet was doing, do whatever she or Rosethorn requested and bring in a couple of mice or birds for them to eat, on top of all his usual hunting and patrol duties as a warrior. He felt like a puny apprentice taking care of the elders all over again, except this was much worse in some ways.

Most of the time, the kittypet was sleeping. It seemed she was always sleeping – every time he returned from a patrol, his paws aching and stomach grumbling, she was there, basking in the sun right outside the fern tunnel to Rosethorn's den with her plump, blindingly pale belly in the air. It irritated Blackfrost just to look at her.

And when she wasn't sleeping around the camp like a true lazy kittypet, Luna was complaining loudly to him about how _hungry_ she was and how much she wanted to go home, even if he had just brought her an especially plump vole for breakfast and all the Clan were glaring at her.

The more she healed, it seemed, the hungrier she got. And it didn't help that she complained when he brought her anything but mice or similar fresh-kill, as she still refused to even touch a squirrel or rabbit. She ate everything else he brought for her, though, almost as though she expected it to run away if she waited too long. If Luna stayed in ThunderClan any longer, Blackfrost was sure that she would eat them straight out of their territory.

She hadn't even _done_ anything to deserve the food, he grumbled. Sleeping, eating, complaining, and not much else. A true kittypet through and through.

And he didn't even have anything to look forward to when he was done, other than the fact that he wouldn't be required to care for the she-cat anymore. Though the days moved by slowly, the next Gathering was coming up fast, but Blackfrost tried hard as he could not to think about that; it only made him even more furious.

At least the past few days had been uneventful for all of ThunderClan, ever since Blackfrost brought Luna back to camp that first time – no trespassers, no battles, no deaths (StarClan forbid), no injuries or sickness for Rosethorn to take care of. And now, it was already the day before the Gathering would take place, though Blackfrost felt no sense of excitement or joy over it.

"Is that for me?"

Blackfrost grunted through the plump robin's feathers in his jaws, hoping that sounded enough like a 'yes', as he stumbled through the tunnel of ferns into the medicine cat clearing, rolling a large ball of moss ahead of him. He had gotten well accustomed to multi-tasking by now; at least he had caught the apprentices Dustypaw, Wrenpaw, and Acornpaw cleaning out the elders' bedding so that he didn't have to go out into the forest and look for the moss himself.

He truly did feel like just another one of the apprentices all over again, looking after Luna as though she herself were an elder.

"Thank you," the tortoiseshell Rosethorn mewed, stepping out from her den and taking the large clump of moss from him. "This should do very well for bedding. I'll take care of it from here, if you don't mind."

Blackfrost nodded gratefully and set the robin down at his feet. "Thanks."

"So that _is_ mine, right?" Luna mewed from behind him, padding forward from her nest as Rosethorn tore the old tangled moss bedding from it with her unsheathed claws. "I'm absolutely _starving_."

"You're not _starving_ ," Blackfrost retorted irritably; he didn't bother to keep himself from sounding too condescending. "You don't even know what starving is."

Luna glared at him. " _Famished_ , then. Positively _ravenous_."

The black tom rolled his eyes as Luna bent down to take a huge bite of the fresh-kill without another word. "Using all your big words now, are we?"

She didn't reply, merely continued eating the piece of prey as though she hadn't eaten in a moon.

At least the kittypet was healing up nicely – the gashes through her pelt were now mere scars, barely visible through her thick white pelt, and she walked without any sign of pain. Not that she did much walking. But she was definitely looking much better.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Blackfrost felt the kittypet's icy blue gaze lock onto him accusingly, and his pelt ruffled in embarrassment. "Nothing much," he muttered distractedly.

Luna ignored him, and instead turned to spit out a mouthful of dark brown feathers, her face twisting into an expression of disgust. "These birds are much too _feathery_ ," she complained loudly, "It all keeps getting stuck between my teeth."

She thrashed her fluffy grey tail in annoyance. "And it was so _cold_ in here last night, I hope that moss you brought in will be nice and warm. Ugh, I can't wait to go back home, it's always so cozy and comfortable, and my nest there is much nicer than these dumb plants."

Blackfrost sighed. Every conversation lately seemed to fall back to the she-cat whining about missing her precious Twoleg nest.

"If you really were _starving_ , as you say, I doubt you would be bothered by a few robin feathers," Blackfrost retorted. "And we'd all better hope that you won't be here when the real leaf-bare cold finally sets in."

Luna rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

Blackfrost didn't know how Rosethorn managed to live with this for a full quarter-moon, but the medicine cat didn't seem to hear, as she continued laying out the mossy bedding without even a twitch of her ears that would signal her listening. Maybe she had already grown well accustomed to listening to her Clanmates' complaining about their various aches and pains. Perhaps by now, it just breezed right on by her.

The dark-furred warrior opened his mouth for another scathing reply when he was interrupted by a familiar call echoing in from the clearing.

"May all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!"

"What could this possibly be about?" Rosethorn murmured to herself, patting down the last nest of moss and lifting her head to listen, her coppery eyes narrowing in thought. She quickly stepped forward through the fern tunnel, pausing only for a moment to motion the others forward with a flick of her tail. "Come along, you two. Might want to hear this."

Her eyes widening, Luna quickly padded out the tunnel after the medicine cat, her tail held high, and Blackfrost took up the rear.

In the main ThunderClan camp clearing, Foreststar was perched up on the Highrock as expected, though his gaze was focused directly onto the fern tunnel that the trio had just exited, Blackfrost noticed with a twinge of anticipation. He settled down beside Rosethorn along the edge of the clearing with Luna seated on her other side, her grey-tipped ears flattened to her head with anxiety.

The deputy Hawktalon sat on the ground just beneath the ThunderClan leader, his amber eyes blazing, while the rest of their Clanmates assembled themselves in an arc around the Highrock. Blackfrost caught sight of Robinsong mewing a gentle greeting to Mistydawn as she sat down beside the older silvery-grey warrior, and Snakefang unsurprisingly taking a seat beside Foxtail, exchanging a heavy glance with the dark red she-cat.

Woodfern, now a warrior again after her kits Wrenpaw and Acornpaw were named as apprentices, stepped out of the warriors' den with her mate Rowanfur, ears pricked forward in interest, and the orange warrior Flamepelt helped his own mate, the pretty brown queen Maplefur, settle their three young kits down and gather them around their mother, after having been playing outside the nursery only moments ago.

"It is time to address a small issue ThunderClan has been dealing with for the past quarter-moon," Foreststar announced, wasting no time with lengthy descriptions, it seemed. "Leaf-bare approaches swiftly on icy paws as the nights gradually grow colder, and as prey will soon become scarce, we have no room in our Clan for cats who don't pull their own weight. "

"It's about time that _kittypet_ left ThunderClan," Hawktalon snarled in interruption, unsheathing his claws to tear at the grass below him. Beside him, Blackfrost felt Luna take an uneasy step backward, her fur bristling. "It was a complete waste of resources to take her in in the first place."

Foreststar, however, ignored the outraged outburst from his deputy, and instead dipped his head to the medicine cat, who sat at the edge of the assembled crowd beside the apprehensive Blackfrost and a distinctly frightened Luna. His voice was not harsh and accusing like his deputy's when he spoke. "Rosethorn, how is the she-cat coming along? Has she healed well? Do you believe she is ready to make the trip back to Twolegplace?"

The tortoiseshell medicine cat glanced back at Luna, and they exchanged a meaningful look before she turned to directly address the ThunderClan leader perched at the top of the Highrock, her voice ringing loud and clear above the waiting and watching crowd.

"She's healed up very well. She can walk just fine now, and her wounds are now mere scars. I believe she is more than ready to return home to her Twolegs."

Luna let out a little trill of joy at the medicine cat's words, which Blackfrost quickly silenced with a glare.

A few tail-lengths away where he was sitting side by side with Foxtail, the grey tom Snakefang let out a hiss of contempt. "Thank StarClan that useless lump of fluff is finally leaving us. She's been lazing around camp for far too long!"

"She's only been here a quarter-moon," Blackfrost blurted in her defense before he could help himself, and then paused in confusion for a few heartbeats when he realized what he had just said.

"Yeah? Well, it feels like it's been three full _moons_ already," Snakefang hissed back.

Well, it seemed that was one thing they could actually somewhat agree on, Blackfrost thought scathingly.

Foreststar quickly cleared his throat to draw the Clan's attention back to him. "Ahem… Thank you, Rosethorn. Allow me to provide an escort for the she-cat back to Twolegplace, and then you may set off."

He fixed his piercing forest green gaze back onto the fluffy white kittypet, seated beside the medicine cat and the young black warrior. "Blackfrost, as caring for the she-cat was one of your duties, your final task shall be to see her safely back home."

He turned his head slightly to scan the crowd seated before him. "Robinsong, you will join him. Go now, and you should be back to the camp before night falls."

The young tortoiseshell nodded her head in acknowledgement, and Blackfrost wondered fleetingly why their leader might have chosen the gentle Robinsong as the second escort over any other warrior.

Perhaps he didn't feel it necessary to waste a more experienced warrior on such a mundane task.

Foreststar leapt down from the Highrock, signaling with his tail that the Clan meeting was dismissed, and Blackfrost whipped around to gather Luna and Robinsong and leave before any of his Clanmates could jeer at them any further.

Rosethorn dipped her head to the kittypet in farewell before they got up to leave. "Glad to see that I could help heal another cat, regardless of your birth."

Luna stared at her before turning away after her warrior escort, her silvery-blue eyes wide and genuine. "Thank you."

"Ready to get going?" Robinsong mewed in greeting as she approached the pair, kneading her paws in excitement.

"That would be an understatement," Blackfrost sighed. "Come on, let's get out of here."

He turned to stalk out of the clearing without another word, leaving Luna and Robinsong to follow along just behind him. Before entering the gorse tunnel out of camp, he noticed Foreststar dip his head respectfully to the kittypet out of the corner of his eye, before turning back to converse with his senior warriors.

"Safe travels, Luna."

 _Huh... How did Foreststar know the kittypet's name?_ He glanced back at Luna, and saw that the pale she-cat was equally shocked at being addressed directly by the ThunderClan leader.

He shook his head as he stomped up the leaf-ridden slope of the ravine, Robinsong gently guiding the bumbling kittypet over the uneven terrain with her tail just behind him.

It didn't matter, anyway. He would be glad to be rid of her. She was just an unfortunate mistake he didn't need in his life, after all. Right?

* * *

The trip back to Twolegplace was relatively short and uneventful. Not a cat spoke to each other, except for the occasional mew from Robinsong, encouraging the kittypet to "Watch your step; there's a dip here" and "Be careful – don't brush against those thorns, they'll catch in your fur, and it'll be a real pain in the tail trying to get them out."

Blackfrost couldn't fully understand why the tortoiseshell warrior was trying to be so helpful to Luna, but maybe it was just her – she was kind to _every_ cat, it seemed. It was a surprise she managed to fight so effortlessly in battle. Half the time, he expected her to apologize after digging her claws into the pelt of an enemy warrior.

When they finally reached the wooden Twoleg fence on the border of Twolegplace, Luna let out an absurd happy chirp and burst forward, fluffy tail raised in the air. "I-I recognize this place – this is right outside my home!"

Without pausing to wait for her warrior escorts – not that she needed to, as the two young ThunderClan cats could easily catch up to her, no problem – she scrambled clumsily up the fence, fighting to pull herself onto the ridge at the top, and after a few heartbeats, Blackfrost and Robinsong pounced up after her.

Blackfrost could tell that Robinsong was amused by the kittypet's sudden burst of energy, but Blackfrost merely felt a deep sense of relief. His normal warrior duties were soon to come – hunting and fighting for his Clanmates, as it should be.

Luna looked back at them, her face alight with pure bliss, before she leapt down onto the prickly green grass on the other side of the fence. She landed ungracefully on her paws, nearly stumbling to the side, but that didn't deter her one bit.

"Joanne? Robert? I'm home!"

She ran as fast as her stubby little kittypet legs could carry her to the doorway of the Twoleg nest, mewing in delight. "Oh, I'm finally home! I missed you all so much, and I'm sure you're so, _so_ worried about me! I'll never leave you again, ever!"

Still up on the top of the fence, Robinsong exchanged a glance with her foster brother, her kind amber eyes sparkling in amusement. "Look at her! I've never seen her so happy."

"Yeah, whatever," Blackfrost mumbled impassively. So she was finally back home to her stinking Twoleg nest with her stinking Twolegs. Good for her. They were lucky they managed to find Luna's Twoleg nest so quickly - he just wanted to return to the forest as soon as possible, as sitting up on the high, thin edge of the border made him feel exposed and vulnerable.

"Oh, come on! Don't be such a grump." Robinsong turned and leapt down off the fencepost onto the Twoleg side of the fence, much to Blackfrost's annoyance, and trotted after the kittypet toward the nest.

"Hey – Robinsong! Where are you going? Get back here!"

Sighing heavily, he jumped down into the Twoleg yard after his sister, muttering to himself. "I swear to StarClan… Don't you realize we're in Twoleg territory right now? This isn't safe."

As he padded forward through the strange, prickly grass, an inexplicable sense of foreboding came over him. Something definitely didn't feel right…

Luna had climbed up to the largest hole in the nest and paused to peer inside before mewling loudly. Nothing happened, and she began to cry louder and louder.

"Hey – cut that out!" Blackfrost snapped, darting forward despite himself. The last thing he wanted to do was to alert every other cat, dog, and Twoleg in Twolegplace to their presence.

He and Robinsong stopped at either side of Luna, a few tail-lengths back, to peer inside the nest with her. It was dark, but they could not see any movement from within, no sign of life.

"I can see our nests…" Luna muttered under her breath, "but Selene isn't in there. Selene? _Selene_!"

Blackfrost cringed, but still nothing happened, save for the barking of some yappy dog a few nests down the row, not visible to them.

"Why won't she respond to me?" Luna grumbled dejectedly and pressed a paw to the warm ice covering the hole. "Where is everything? Everyone?"

Behind her, the two ThunderClan warriors exchanged an uneasy look.

"Joanne? Robert?" She started scrabbling at the door. "They're always home at this time of day, always… They come running anytime they hear me mew, they love me so much…"

She stopped, as though the realization had finally come to her. The dark nest, no lights or sounds coming from within like most, no sign of any other Twolegs or cats… the sense of emptiness emanating from inside.

"They – they're gone." She shook her head quickly, as though she didn't want to believe it, and Blackfrost felt a spark of empathy jolt through him despite himself. "No… no, _no_ …"

"What?" Robinsong's amber eyes widened in shocked confusion. "What do you mean? How could they be gone? You were only gone a few sunrises or so… They couldn't have all just disappeared!"

Blackfrost peered over the she-cat's shoulder toward the looming Twoleg nest. It did look awfully quiet – the holes in the walls, lined with some foreign clear substance like ice, looked dark and silent, and he could sense no activity from within.

"Are you sure this is yours? Isn't this the right nest?" Leave it to a kittypet to not even recognize their own home…

Luna shook her head. "I know my home. Look –" she bounded toward another one of the icy holes – "the windows are all closed, but the screen beyond this one has a big tear in it. That's how I got out in the first place, you know."

She bunched her haunches to leap up toward the window, then stopped. "But… But it's all dark inside now. Nobody's there; I can feel it. I thought they would be looking for me… Surely something terrible must have happened to them!"

A gust of wind blew through the yard, causing the pale kittypet to shiver despite her thick fluffy pelt. She sat still, her ears drooping in despair. The pair of warriors could barely hear her dejected mew.

"…They're really gone."

Blackfrost exchanged a glance with Luna, his piercing green eyes meeting her frosty blue ones with a mutual look of shock, while Robinsong looked on with unveiled concern.

It looked like they had no choice but to take her back. Back to ThunderClan.


	11. Ch9: Despair and Decisions

**A/N: So, I truly apologize for my little unexpected hiatus on this story! I had a lot going on in the past few months - exams, vacation, some other surprises, etc. - and then I also had an entire collection of oneshots to write for another fandom I'm heavily invested in, so I do hope this new chapter might make up for it! Updates on this story will probably come somewhat slowly from now on, but it'll still be one of my top priorities; I just have to get back into the swing of things. Enjoy, and stay tuned for more!**

 **-CCM**

* * *

CHAPTER 9

Luna barely registered the path they took on the way back to the ThunderClan camp, following Blackfrost and Robinsong back through the forest unfeelingly, stumbling over rocks and tree roots as though in a daze. Nor did she notice the odd looks the two wild cats were giving her – no, she didn't notice a thing. Her whole body felt numb, from her mind to her paws right down to the very tip of her tail.

Gone… They were all gone.

The words echoed around in her head with every heavy pawstep. She could barely find the energy within her to lift her paws, one after the other. _Gone… Gone… Gone…_

Where could they have gone? Why did they leave their home? Leave _her_? Luna was sure they didn't mean to – something terrible must have happened to them! Otherwise, they certainly would be out in the forest searching for her, right?

But... she couldn't think about that now. Before she knew it, Luna found herself stumbling through the prickly tunnel into the warriors' camp, not entirely sure how she ended up there. Though it didn't matter – none of that mattered.

All she could see was the cold, darkened room beyond the windowpane of her home. Empty.

Her housefolk, Selene… Where had they gone, and why? Would she ever see them again? It took all she had not to cry out to the heavens in sorrow.

What is _she_ doing here again _?"_ A harsh mew met her ears, and if she didn't feel so numb to the world she probably would have flinched at its scathing tone. "I thought you took this kittypet back to her _Twolegs_. Or have you two had a change of heart?"

Blackfrost shot a glare at the dark striped warrior who had spoken before glancing back at Luna, a strangely sympathetic look in his deep green eyes. "We… we couldn't find her Twolegs. They're gone."

"Gone?" A silvery-blue she-cat mewed, confusion evident in her widened eyes. "What do you mean? Where could they have gone?"

Hearing those words from another cat's mouth, Luna felt a sharp pang like a bee sting pierce through her heart, as though it only confirmed her greatest fears.

Blackfrost nodded. "Robinsong and I took the kittypet back to her Twoleg nest, but it was completely empty. Nobody was in there - not a Twoleg, or cat, in sight."

Robinsong mewed once, confirming what the black-furred warrior had said, and Luna felt her gently lay the tip of her mottled tail against her back, attempting to provide whatever small sense of comfort she could.

A large number of cats had come out of their dens to see what was going, and by now, the three young cats' ears were met by a chorus of yowling that echoed around the clearing as the various members of the Clan spoke up to voice their concerns, many not so nicely.

"Well, now what?"

"She can't stay here!"

"You should have just left her in Twolegplace regardless, where she belongs!"

" _What's going on_?"

Luna glanced upward at the last voice to see the massive brown tabby, ThunderClan leader Foreststar, step out from his den within the crack in the rock in the center of the camp, his green eyes wide but betraying no emotion. He was followed by the huge, mean-looking dark tabby tom who made Luna especially nervous – the Clan deputy, Hawktalon.

A few tail-lengths away from them, Snakefang, the angry dark-striped tom, rolled his eyes. "My mouse-brained siblings though it would be a good idea to bring this kittypet back to camp, even though –"

"Silence." Luna couldn't help but feel some satisfaction as the Clan leader quieted the arrogant young warrior with a mere flick of his tail. "Please let Blackfrost and Robinsong themselves explain to me why they've done what they have. I'm sure it doesn't require your input."

The grey-striped warrior lowered his gaze, ears flat against his head, clearly embarrassed at being called out by his leader in front of half the Clan.

Blackfrost took this as his chance to speak up. "Foreststar, I'm sorry that Robinsong and I haven't done what you've asked of us. We did take Luna back to Twolegplace, like you said, but her Twoleg nest – it was empty. Her Twolegs weren't inside… they're gone."

Beside Luna, Robinsong nodded in agreement. "We didn't know what else to do, so we brought her back to the ThunderClan camp, at least so we could decide what to do next."

"And what makes you think we _want_ her back here?" A skinny, elderly tortoiseshell she-cat yowled loudly from the back of the gathered crowd. Luna glanced up sharply and saw a familiar brown cat, Owlface, shush her quickly with a few words whispered into her ear, though she still looked exceptionally grumpy.

"Is that all?" Foreststar mewed. He briefly glanced at Robinsong before settling his gaze on Blackfrost, his eyes thoughtful. The two young warriors beside Luna nodded in unison, and she could sense their combined apprehension. What would their leader do?

Surely he wouldn't demand that they take her back again to fend for herself? Then again, Luna didn't want to – she couldn't – imagine staying in this forest Clan any longer. But if her family was truly gone, what other choice did she have?

She bit her own tongue to keep herself from yowling out loud in fear and despair.

Foreststar gaze shifted around the clearing; beside him, Luna couldn't help but notice that his intimidating deputy looked as though he had something he wanted to say, but luckily, he kept his mouth shut. Instead, the dark warrior gave the pale white she-cat a scrutinizing glare that would have made her skin crawl if she wasn't already too upset to feel much of anything at all.

"Well, it seems that nearly all the Clan are already out here, so I won't have to sound the meeting call." Foreststar leapt to the top of the rock in the middle of the clearing, and all of the cats gathered around turned expectantly to hear what he had to say.

"As you have all heard, the she-cat from Twolegplace that has been staying with us for the past quarter-moon has been brought back to the Clan," he announced. "As Blackfrost and Robinsong have told us, her Twolegs have gone, and she is unable to return to them. We must now quickly decide our next course of action."

He cleared his throat. "Any suggestions?"

Unfortunately, Hawktalon was the first to speak up next. "I say we drive her out of our territory immediately," the deputy growled, unsheathing his claws, and Luna shivered despite herself. "This mess has gone on for far too long, in my honest opinion. A kittypet belongs in Twolegplace, and that's that."

Quite a few cats, including Snakefang, yowled their agreement. Luna felt her anxieties rise, and she took a deep breath in an attempt to calm her shaky nerves.

"What would the other Clans think of us if they had known we were sheltering a pathetic kittypet?" A large black and white warrior added. "We'd be made a laughingstock at the Gathering if any of them found out!"

A light brown cat she didn't recognize nodded. "Kittypets have no place in the Clans."

"Now now, there's no need for any of that." Luna looked up, feeling the smallest glimmer of hope within, as she recognized the stern voice of the ThunderClan medicine cat. Rosethorn stepped forward toward the Highrock to address the Clan, completely unfazed by the mixed sentiments of the crowd.

"What would be the point in using up our time and resources on healing this kittypet, only for us to drive her out as soon as she gets better?" She shook her head. "A kittypet relies their Twolegs to survive, that we all know; they can't endure the wild on their own, especially during the harshness of leaf-bare. It would be a cruel waste."

A few cats mewed quietly, as though unsure of whether or not to agree with their medicine cat's words. The tortoiseshell she-cat turned back toward Foreststar and Hawktalon at the Highrock. "I don't think that StarClan would approve."

Luna had just enough time to wonder briefly what _StarClan_ could possibly be when another Clan she-cat spoke up.

"Rosethorn makes a decent point. She isn't our medicine cat for nothing," the tawny brown cat mewed carefully, and Luna caught a glimpse of her kind hazel eyes, recognizing her as Woodfern, the mother of the two kittens whose apprentice ceremony she had recently observed. "Doesn't StarClan want us to also show some compassion to other innocent cats in need, both those of other Clans, and outside of them?"

She locked eyes with Foreststar. "Surely you of all cats would understand that."

Luna had no conceivable idea what the she-cat could have meant by that, but apparently, the leader understood, as he nodded solemnly. Beside her, she felt Blackfrost inhale sharply, though Luna wasn't really sure why. Did it have to do with what Woodfern said?

Hawktalon snorted audibly at Woodfern's words, but her mate Rowanfur, who was seated just behind her, nodded wisely. "I suppose you're right, in that it wouldn't feel right to drive her away now. Would that be any different from just leaving her in the first place, when Blackfrost found her injured?"

Another pale grey she-cat mewed her assent. "We aren't as heartless as ShadowClan warriors, after all."

Hawktalon thrashed his tail in annoyance. "But... What good would it do to keep her? It's a _kittypet_ – she'll be of no use to the Clan! Can't hunt, can't fight; she probably won't survive leaf-bare regardless!"

"M-maybe we could… teach her?" A thin, dark brown tom spoke up tentatively. More than a few cats snorted at that, Hawktalon loudest of all.

Foreststar, however, didn't seem to completely agree with his deputy. His eyes were narrowed in what looked like deep thought, and he glanced from Hawktalon, to Rosethorn, to Blackfrost before clearing his throat to address the Clan again.

"All right, if that is all; we've heard each of your arguments. What does the Clan think?"

The cats gathered in the clearing exchanged concerned looks with each other, many of them murmuring quietly and shooting quick glances in Luna's direction. The pale she-cat felt as though she were sinking into the ground under the weight of all the scrutinizing glances from so many cats sizing her up, and she couldn't tell whether the majority of their looks were good or bad.

Without any more additional input, the ThunderClan leader seemed to know the final decision should be. "If the she-cat agrees to it, I say that she may stay here in ThunderClan for the time being."

A couple of cats gasped at that, but most of them responded with silence – including Blackfrost, who stared down at his own paws – as Foreststar continued, "This wouldn't be the first time the Clan has taken in an outsider who needed our help. And ThunderClan is not against compassion; our medicine cat has indeed made a decent point. Now the only question left is, where shall she stay?"

"She's certainly not sleeping in the warriors' den," a dark reddish-brown she-cat hissed immediately, her eyes narrowed threateningly. It seemed that she was one cat who definitely was not happy one bit with the ThunderClan leader's final decision, though she didn't dare go against his word. "I'm not letting a _kittypet_ stink up my nest!"

Snakefang, as well as quite a few other warriors, snarled in agreement, and for once, feeling Robinsong's gentle tail resting against her fur, Luna was relieved that at least a few cats were willing to stick up for her here. After all that had happened, she felt completely lost and alone, as though her entire world had been turned upside down and shaken around like a box of dry kibble rattling its contents into her food dish. Her stomach grumbled uncomfortably at the very thought – what if she never ate her favorite meals ever again? Or slept in her cozy little nest with the warm, soft quilted blankets? Or sat on her housefolk's lap-

 _No_. No, she couldn't think about those things. Not here, not now. She had to be brave for once, even if she didn't really feel it deep down.

"All right," the ThunderClan leader's deep mew interrupted her thoughts. "If not with the warriors, then perhaps the elders' den?"

"No," the skinny tortoiseshell elder who had spoken up earlier hissed, her coppery eyes narrowed in resolute defiance. "She's not one of us; I won't allow it."

Luna couldn't help but feel insulted at the old she-cat's dismissive tone, but Foreststar didn't argue with her.

"Then perhaps she could sleep in the nursery?" Woodfern suggested. Beside her, Robinsong nodded as though she thought that would be a fine idea, but Luna herself felt much less enthusiastic over it. The last thing she wanted was to be surrounded by a group of small, mewling kittens who would keep her up all night and disturb her beauty rest.

A pretty she-cat with rich brown fur, one of the ThunderClan queens, shook her head. "With my own kits, there's no room for the kittypet in the nursery."

Luna couldn't help but wonder whether that were truly the case, or if the Clan cat just didn't want any cat like herself around her impressionable young; a thought that was further emphasized by some cat at the other side of the clearing snarling, "I wouldn't want a _kittypet_ anywhere near the kits."

Luna exchanged a glance with Blackfrost and Robinsong, and felt largely surprised yet strangely relieved that each of them seemed to share her same thoughts. This situation was starting to feel downright hopeless.

Foreststar also looked somewhat bothered, though he maintained his composure well. "Well, if you don't-"

"Excuse me," the medicine cat interjected suddenly, and Foreststar quickly closed his mouth to stare at the tortoiseshell she-cat questioningly. "Foreststar, pardon me for interrupting, but I would be willing to allow Luna to continue staying in my den, seeing as how no other cat seems too keen on accepting her."

"With good reason," the cranky tortoiseshell elder muttered loudly under her breath. Rosethorn ignored her.

"Are you sure?" Foreststar asked. The medicine cat nodded. Luna tried to meet her gaze, but she seemed to purposely avoid her eyes, instead choosing to stare intently up at her leader on the Highrock.

"But, Foreststar-"

"Enough." the large brown tabby silenced his deputy with a glare. "You of all cats should know better than to argue with the word of your leader. We can discuss this later in private, with the other senior warriors."

"Are we really going to let a soft little _kittypet_ like this stay in ThunderClan?" The dark red she-cat with lurid green eyes hissed, shooting Luna a sideways glance seething with contempt.

The pale white housecat felt a sudden, uncharacteristic surge of anger burst through her like she had never felt before. She had been through _so much_ , and yet these cats still insistently put her down and treated her like dirt when they didn't even know her!

"My name isn't _kittypet_ ," she mewed, staring at the wild she-cat head on. "It's Luna. _Luna_. And you can all stop talking about me like I'm not even here – I can speak for myself, you know."

Without so much as a glance toward Blackfrost, Robinsong, Rosethorn, or any other cat in the clearing, Luna haughtily whipped around and stalked off toward the medicine cat den.

She didn't care what those Clan cats would think of her melodramatic exit. She didn't care whether it would make them all hate her even more. She didn't care _what_ they thought of her.

She was sick of all of this. Why couldn't it have all been just a terrible dream?

The pale white she-cat sighed heavily as she trailed back through the now-familiar fern tunnel, headed for the mossy nest she had hoped she'd never have to sleep in again.


	12. Ch10: Thunderstorms and Conversation

CHAPTER 10

"May all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!"

Blackfrost watched with a sinking heart as the ThunderClan leader leapt to the top of the rock in the center of the camp clearing, dreading what he knew would come next. The glowing full moon was just barely visible against the dark backdrop of the night sky beyond Foreststar's darkened silhouette – large, thick clouds were slowly moving in to cover the silvery circle shining above them, but there still seemed to be more than enough light for the Gathering to go on, at least as far as they could tell.

Unfortunately, Blackfrost thought to himself bitterly. He flopped down onto the grass lining the edge of the clearing without enthusiasm and moodily took a bite out of the small sparrow he had selected from the fresh-kill pile, wishing he had chosen a mouse instead as he half-listened to Foreststar gather together the cats selected to go to the Gathering.

"Hawktalon, Flamepelt, Lightningstripe, Raincloud, Sparrowflight, Woodfern, Rowanfur, Foxtail, Snakefang, Robinsong, Dustypaw, Grasspaw, Stonepaw, and Rosethorn." The ThunderClan leader nodded at the cats who stepped forward. "Grab something to eat from the fresh-kill pile if you haven't done so already, and quickly – we'll be leaving for the Gathering in just a few heartbeats."

Blackfrost took another bite from his sparrow, though he honestly didn't feel all that hungry anymore. The brown feathers from the bird all seemed to get lodged uncomfortably in his throat.

"Have a nice, quiet night here at camp," Snakefang mewed to him, his tone lightly mocking as he strode past with a swish of his striped tail, Foxtail trailing behind him by a few pawsteps.

"Yeah," the red she-cat added with a sneer, "and keep it safe. Don't need any more _rogues_ or _kittypets_ wandering in."

Blackfrost rolled his eyes; for once, their words barely rustled the fur on his back. Sometimes, those two acted like they had never even left apprenticeship, with all their immature comments and insults directed toward him. He swatted at another couple of feathers dangling from his sparrow.

"See you later, Blackfrost," a significantly kinder feminine mew met his ears, and he glanced up from his meal to see that Robinsong had stopped in front of him. "And don't mind Snakefang; they're just still annoyed by… you know…"

She nodded her head in the direction of Rosethorn's den, where the kittypet Luna was perched just outside the entrance to the fern tunnel. "A lot of cats aren't happy about ThunderClan taking her in," the tortoiseshell added quietly.

"It's only temporary," Blackfrost meowed automatically, though he wasn't sure he actually believed that. What would happen to the kittypet in a few moons' time from then? She couldn't stay in the Clan forever, could she? Perhaps they could find her some new Twolegs if her old ones never returned.

Robinsong didn't look very convinced, either. "Well… Anyway, I'll be sure to let you know if anything interesting happens at the Gathering. And I'm sure Foreststar will let you go to the next one."

"If we even go through with the Gathering tonight, that is," the lithe brown warrior Sparrowflight spoke up from behind her former apprentice, nudging her to follow along with the rest of the leaving cats. "I don't like the look of those dark clouds rolling in at the edge of the sky..."

Admittedly, that thought made Blackfrost feel a tiny bit better – at least if that were truly the case and a storm was rapidly brewing on the horizon, he wouldn't be missing out on his own warrior announcement, or any new, important information from the other Clans.

The dark-furred warrior pushed the remains of his meal away with one paw and watched as the group of cats who were chosen to go to the Gathering filed after Foreststar through the gorse tunnel out of camp.

"So… Where are they going?"

"Huh?" Blackfrost jumped with a start, and turned to find himself face-to-face with the kittypet herself. He was somewhat surprised by this; she hadn't spoken to any cat, not even Rosethorn, since her dramatic exit at the last ThunderClan meeting.

She nodded her head at the last retreating forms of cats, their tails disappearing into the shadows of the gorse tunnel; her silvery eyes betrayed no emotion. "Where are they all going? Why are they leaving? And at night, too... Isn't that dangerous?"

"You're a curious one, aren't you," Blackfrost meowed in retort, though for once, he felt no real need to start up another argument with the fluffy kittypet. Surely she had been through enough, even more than he himself had, he had to admit. Only somewhat reluctantly, he dropped his scathing tone for a more honest approach.

"They're going to the Gathering."

"The Gathering?" Luna echoed predictably. "What's that?"

"It's…" he struggled to think of a way to explain the concept of Gatherings to a cat outside the Clans and the warrior code, in the simplest terms possible. "It's a meeting, of sorts. With the other Clans."

"Oh… Why aren't you going with them?"

"I-I, uh, wasn't selected this time around…" he stammered. To his surprise, she didn't press the issue any further; instead, she padded past him toward the fresh-kill pile and daintily selected a juicy mouse for herself, carrying it back to sit and eat quietly beside him.

He had begun to nearly doze off when she finally spoke up again. "So... What are _they_ doing?"

Blackfrost looked over at her, confused. "What do you mean? Who?"

"Those two."

The kittypet nodded her head at something behind them, and Blackfrost craned his neck to look. Just outside the warriors' den where Luna was gesturing toward, two cats who hadn't been called to attend the Gathering lounged together comfortably a few tail-lengths from the entrance - the silvery blue she-cat Mistydawn and her mate, the dark brown tom Mosspelt. Mosspelt had his eyes closed as Mistydawn ran her tongue over the top of his head, affectionately grooming the fur behind his ears, pausing only for a moment to listen as he quietly meowed something to her.

Blackfrost sighed inwardly as he eyed the couple, feeling Luna's gaze practically burning through his pelt. "Um… They're just talking. And grooming each other, you know. Like, sharing tongues?"

Luna stared back at him, wide blue eyes uncomprehending, and he went on awkwardly, "It's something that Clan cats do, when they're off duty, to relax and share gossip and stuff. We call it sharing tongues."

Why did this kittypet seem to have such a knack for asking questions that made him uncomfortable? ...Why was he feeling so uncomfortable about it in the first place? He was a _warrior_ , for StarClan's sake. And the topic of sharing tongues wasn't anything out of the ordinary.

"Sharing tongues?" Luna tilted her head thoughtfully as she tested out the phrase which was so foreign to her, holding her partially-eaten mouse still beneath one paw. "…I suppose that's a bit like when I used to cuddle with my housefolk in the evenings, isn't it?"

"Housefolk?" The black tom twitched his tail incredulously, his own unfamiliarity with the words she used making him feel extra irritable. "… _Cuddling_?"

"That's _Twolegs_ to you, and yes." The kittypet's eyes misted over slightly at whatever happy memory she was reminiscing about. "That always used to be my favorite time of the day with my housefolk, right after dinner. I would sit in their lap after we were all comfortably full, and they would stroke my fur and murmur to me, and they'd get so happy when I'd purr back."

Blackfrost merely snorted in response.

"Sharing tongues with Twolegs… What kind of mouse-brained kittypet nonsense is that?" he muttered. Luna didn't seem to hear.

"You know, I've never been around so many cats before…" she murmured. "In fact, the only cat I ever remember meeting is Selene, my housefolk's other cat, and we never really 'shared tongues' like that, as you call it, though we would help each other clean behind the ears sometimes."

Blackfrost's first thought was that he didn't give half a mouse-tail to know who Selene was, nor did he really care. But then, with a jolt, he realized what the deeper implications of Luna's words truly were; that she didn't even remember her own mother, or father, or littermates if she had any.

And somehow, the thought of them having any type of connection, even if it was just the fact that they both were essentially orphans, made Blackfrost's pelt prickle in discomfort.

His uneasy thoughts, however, were quickly interrupted by a new prickling sensation on his pelt that didn't have anything to do with the fluffy white kittypet beside him. He glanced up at the sky, and a drop of cold water promptly splashed him in the face.

It was raining.

Luna crouched down next to him, her belly nearly touching the ground, a miserable scowl forming on her face as she watched Mosspelt and Mistydawn look up at the darkened sky and retreat through the gorse tunnel into the forest. Blackfrost stifled his purr of amusement. "What? You look like that mouse didn't sit quite well in your stomach."

"No," she hissed, though her irritability wasn't directed at him this time, "I just don't like getting wet. All this water is going to soak right into my fur, and it'll take _ages_ for it to dry properly."

Blackfrost shrugged, though he could understand the she-cat's complaints. "I don't much enjoy getting rained on, either. We aren't RiverClan cats here, after all."

Luna had just opened her mouth to reply, most likely to ask more about RiverClan, but her words were interrupted by a sudden flash of blinding light that came from the sky, followed by a booming clap of thunder that echoed throughout the entire camp clearing, shaking the mostly barren trees around them. She shrunk down even further to the ground, her wide blue eyes staring up at the storm clouds in pure terror as the sky lit up and crackled once again.

"Scared of thunderstorms, are you?" Blackfrost asked, somewhat amused by the kittypet's reaction. Most Clan cats were familiar enough with these types of storms to not be too startled by the light and sound, save for the youngest of kits, after all. But he had never seen such a fearful look on a cat's face before.

She slowly met his gaze, her eyes filled with fear and hurt as the rain picked up and quickly began to soak her thick pelt, and the dark-furred warrior felt a twinge of pity for her.

"Come on... I'll take you back to Rosethorn's den. You should be safe and dry there."

"No!" Luna cried out quite suddenly, casting another fearful glance at the stormy sky above. "Don't leave me! Rosethorn went off to that Gathering with all the others, and I don't want to be left alone!"

"I-I'm scared," she added in a nearly inaudible whimper, and averted her eyes as though she were embarrassed.

Blackfrost sighed, a reluctant idea forming in his mind. "Fine... You can stay with me in the warriors' den for now, I guess. But _please_ , be quiet."

Luna nodded desperately, and she scurried after the dark tom as he strode through the pelting rain toward the bramble-covered den just as another flash of white lightning cracked through the sky.

To his surprise, and quite possibly relief, the warriors' den was empty, save for the great grey tom Stormbreeze who was, thankfully, fast asleep in the corner. He didn't even stir as the two younger cats padded softly inside.

"Here," Blackfrost whispered to the kittypet, who seemed to have calmed down a lot now that she was out of the freezing rain and instead stood in a nice warm den. He poked at one of the piles of thick moss that lined the floor with one forepaw. "This is my nest. You can rest here for a bit, if you like."

"Thank you," Luna purred, her fur still standing on edge as she settled down comfortably into the moss and began to lick the drips of water off her pelt. Blackfrost, after a moment of hesitation, stiffly curled up next to her, taking particular care not to brush up against the kittypet beside him as another crackle of thunder split the air.

"Blackfrost?"

"Uh, yeah?" He glanced over at her, and saw that the pale she-cat had stopped grooming her fur and was now staring at him wide-eyed again.

"Can you tell me more about the Gatherings?"

The black warrior sighed; it was as though she were a mere kit, young and inexperienced, begging for a story from him. She did know about as much as a kit, perhaps even less so, he supposed.

"Well, like I said, it's pretty much a huge meeting between the four forest Clans. Like the Clan meetings that Foreststar calls sometimes, but much larger and more diverse. I told you about the other Clans, right?"

Luna nodded. "ShadowClan, WindClan, and, um… WaterClan-"

"RiverClan," he corrected instinctively.

"Yeah, that."

'Well, the Clans all come together at a place called Fourtrees at the full moon, where all four of their territories meet. it's a clearing surrounded by four enormous oak trees, one representing each Clan, and the leaders address all the gathered cats from the Great Rock in the center of it all."

Luna nodded, narrowing her eyes thoughtfully. "That sounds… fascinating, actually. What are the Gatherings _like_?"

"Well…" Blackfrost paused to remember the last Gathering he had attended, back when he was still the apprentice Blackpaw, "there are more cats than you would ever believe, much more than all of us here in ThunderClan combined. You've never seen so many cats in your life, I can guarantee it – warriors, apprentices, elders, medicine cats, all gathered in one place at one time. Along with the leader and deputy of each Clan, of course. The leaders up on the Great Rock address all four of the attending Clans with news, like the naming ceremonies that happened in the past moon, or different dangers or problems that may have come up in the forest."

He watched his own tail swish back and forth in the nest, less than willing to look the kittypet in the eye as he continued on. "The Clan cats can share all kinds of gossip among each other, too; as long as they don't accidentally give away any of their Clan's secrets. And they don't fight, because the Gathering is meant to be a time of peace – as long as the full moon is shining, a truce is called between the Clans."

Luna stared at him. "...So why didn't you go to this Gathering, again? I know there's a reason – you acted funny about it when I asked you before. And you seem to talk so highly of them... I can tell you really wanted to go."

Huh… It seemed that the kittypet wasn't as apathetic as he thought. She actually did notice things.

"You're right," he admitted. "I wanted to go, since Foreststar is supposed to announce my warrior name to the other Clans for the first time, along with Robinsong and Snakefang. It would have been my very first Gathering with full ThunderClan warrior status, which is kind of a big deal. But I wasn't allowed to go, well… because of you."

"Because of _me_?" Luna looked taken aback, and he nodded.

"It was my punishment for bringing you into the Clan…" Blackfrost muttered, a hint of bitterness in his tone.

"Oh…"

They sat in silence for a few moments, listening to the rain drumming against the branches that arched over their heads.

"Well… I'm sure you can go to the next one. And... maybe I could even go, too. I'd like to see what these Gatherings are all about… with my own eyes."

Blackfrost didn't respond as Luna turned away, daintily setting her head over her paws and closing her eyes. Though he was greatly surprised at the interest the kittypet was suddenly showing in Clan ways, It was still painfully obvious how truly naive she was to it all.

All the more reason she didn't belong in ThunderClan.

Luna would never get to go to a Gathering; Foreststar would never allow it. She would never be accepted here. She would never fit in. She couldn't.

* * *

Blackfrost lifted his head with a jolt as he sensed a large group of cats swarming into the clearing outside the den, his fur bristling, but relaxed slightly as he recognized the woody scents of ThunderClan, his fellow Clanmates approaching him. He instinctively backed away from Luna, who was huddled against him, her eyes closed; it looked like she had fallen asleep at his side while the rain still pattered on outside the warmth and comfort of the den.

"What are you all doing back so soon?" he asked distractedly as his littermates stomped into the warriors' den, their pelts soaked, followed by a number of other warriors who had set off for the Gathering earlier that night.

Snakefang rolled his eyes at his foster brother, stomping away grumpily toward his nest at the opposite end of the den. "You saw the weather outside, didn't you? The Gathering was canceled."

"Really?"

Robinsong nodded unhappily. "Clouds had already about covered the moon before we even made it halfway to Fourtrees. By the time we finally reached the Gathering, the storm had already rolled in in full force, and the leaders called it off right away."

She settled down into her nest beside him and shrugged. "Looks like Foreststar will have to announce our warrior ceremonies at the next Gathering."

The tortoiseshell she-cat looked rather disappointed, and understandably so, but Blackfrost felt a surge of relief flow through him. He wouldn't miss his first Gathering as a full ThunderClan warrior, after all!

Meanwhile, the she-cat Foxtail sniffed loudly as she slunk past the black-furred warrior, her lurid green eyes narrowed contemptuously as she caught sight of Luna huddled in the den, her pale fluffy pelt easily visible even in the dim light.

"What's _she_ doing here? This den is for ThunderClan _warriors_ ," she complained, loudly enough that a few other warriors in the den glanced over in curiosity, "Not charity cases. Get her out of here, she's stinking up the place. And it'll take days to wash her Twoleg _stench_ out of my fur."

Blackfrost hissed under his breath. "She was frightened by the thunder and lightning from the storm outside, and since Rosethorn was away at the Gathering, she didn't want to be left alone," he quickly explained, casting a glance at Luna's sleeping form.

Foxtail's eyes widened in mock sympathy, her jeering tone dripping with scorn. "Oh, don't tell me widdle Bwackfwost has gone all softhearted for the soft widdle kittypet? How absolutely… _pitiful_."

The black warrior lashed his tail irritably. "Stuff a toad in it, Foxtail. It's _nothing_ like that, and you know it. In fact, now that you've all returned, I'm sending her back to Rosethorn right now."

Beside him, Robinsong watched the tense exchange silently, though her amber eyes reflected their usual sense of sympathy. He gently nudged Luna awake, all too well aware of Foxtail's scathing emerald eyes that watched his every move.

"Huh?" Luna blinked her eyes sleepily as she stirred in the nest, disoriented, and then looked up at him. "Wha- What's going on?"

"They're back from the Gathering," Blackfrost explained curtly. "You have to go back to Rosethorn's den now."

"Oh… all right." The soft white kittypet stood up on unsteady paws and stumbled toward the entrance, then hesitated. "Is the storm over?"

"Not yet," he went on quickly, feeling Foxtail and Robinsong and all the others staring at him, "but it's lightened up a bit, and Rosethorn will be there to keep you company. You'll be fine."

"Thanks, Blackfrost," Luna whispered with a nod, her silvery blue eyes wide with unmistakable gratitude as she met his gaze, ignoring the harsh looks the other warriors were shooting her before she finally turned and left.

"It's about time," Foxtail muttered at the kittypet's retreat, but Blackfrost didn't hear her words or anyone else's as the cats settled down in their respective beds of moss.

Curled up back in his own nest, the soft bedding now feeling strangely uncomfortable against his fur, he shivered.

What if Foxtail actually had a point? What if he really _was_ going soft?

No…

Blackfrost shook his head determinedly. What had gotten into him? He was a true ThunderClan warrior through and through.

He would just have to prove them all wrong.

* * *

 **A/N: Hope you enjoyed this long and rather cute chapter! It looks like Blackfrost is starting to warm up to Luna a bit more, even if he doesn't want to admit it yet. But there's still a lot more trouble and conflicting feelings to come! And please, let me know what you think so far!**

 **-CCM**


	13. Ch11: Discomfort and Realizations

CHAPTER 11

"Blackfrost, wake up."

With a slight groan, the black-furred warrior opened his eyes, and despite the fact that it was still pitch-dark in the den, he could just make out the figure of the pale orange tabby tom Flamepelt by both sight and scent. The older warrior lifted a forepaw and, hesitating just a moment, prodded him sharply in the side.

"Ah, _hey_!"

Blackfrost jolted out of his nest, and Flamepelt rolled his eyes.

"You're on the dawn patrol with me and Acornpaw, remember?"

Feeling somewhat embarrassed as the vague recollection of his previously agreed-upon duties came back to him, Blackfrost allowed his bristling fur to lie down flat again, his ears pressed against his head as his gaze flickered from side to side to make sure he hadn't waken any of his other Clanmates that were still fast asleep. Only Robinsong stirred in the nest beside him, but she quickly turned to lay on her other side without opening her eyes.

"Sorry," he muttered.

Flamepelt stifled an amused snort and softly mewed back, "It's all right. Just be ready at the gorse tunnel in a few, I've got to go wake Acornpaw as well."

He stalked off, muttering under his breath about particularly lazy Clanmates, and with a deep breath, Blackfrost stretched out his legs and then sleepily followed the orange tom out of the den.

The early morning air was crisp and cold, and sent a wave of shock down his spine despite the faintest rays of sunlight that filtered into the clearing, quickly pushing out any remnants of sleep from his mind. The grass poking out from beneath his paws held trace amounts of frosted dew that hadn't yet begun to melt properly, simply adding to the sharp chill he felt. Leaf-bare was truly well on its way, and coming quickly now.

Pausing for a few heartbeats to watch Flamepelt make his way toward the clump of ferns that made up the apprentices' den, Blackfrost then turned to take one of the smallest pieces of prey – a tiny vole – from the fresh-kill pile, and wondered briefly whether he should take anything to Rosethorn and Luna, too. Just a force of habit, he supposed, after the whole quarter-moon of taking care of them every sunrise and sunset. They were most likely perfectly fine on their own.

But he decided to stop by the medicine cat's den anyway, and see if they were even awake. Perhaps Rosethorn might be running low on herbs that she could trust him to easily find on his way back from the patrol. It surely didn't hurt to check.

Checking up on them didn't mean he was going _soft_ , he told himself. It was just the right thing to do, and would only take but a moment... It wasn't like he specifically wanted to see Luna, anyway.

If only he could truly believe that deep down.

"Blackfrost? Is that you?"

The dark warrior padded through the familiar tunnel of thick branching ferns that arched overhead, and was immediately met by a small flurry of movement and a soft, questioning mew as the kittypet in question sat upright in her mossy nest just beside the entrance, her pale grey ears pricked warily as she turned toward her early morning visitor.

"Yes, yes, it's me," he muttered hastily, the drowsiness that still blurred his mind making him particularly irritable. Blinking, he glanced around the dark clearing, searching for the familiar mottled pelt of the ThunderClan medicine cat. "Where's Rosethorn?"

"Oh, you startled me a bit there," Luna mewed, sighing in relief. "I thought you might have been one of those... other cats. And Rosethorn... she left just a little while ago. Said it was some sort of 'medicine cat business'. But she should be back soon!"

"Oh..." Blackfrost flicked his tail awkwardly. "Well, I was just wondering... Oh, never mind. I've got to go."

He quickly turned and rushed back through the fern tunnel, praying to StarClan that the dim light in the shaded clearing meant the kittypet hadn't caught on to how his fur was prickling so uncomfortably in her presence.

"Wait!"

He paused, and the pale she-cat stumbled clumsily out of the ferns after him, nearly bumping into his side. "You just got here! Where are you off to now?"

"But-" Blackfrost fought to keep his tail from lashing about, "I'm on the dawn patrol..."

"Please don't leave!" Luna begged, her voice rising into a high-pitched mew, much to the warrior's surprise. Blackfrost couldn't help but roll his eyes at her dramatic antics, and out of the corner of his line of vision, he saw Flamepelt leaving the apprentices' den with his small brown-striped apprentice sleepily trailing after him.

"Why, exactly, don't you want me to leave?" he asked patronizingly.

"I-I'm frightened," the she-cat admitted quietly with an air of reluctance, but that didn't stop her from glaring at him. "That storm last night was so scary... And now Rosethorn's left me all alone, so I don't want you to just leave me here, too!"

Her gaze dropped to her pale grey paws as she added in a barely-discernible whisper, her words faltering slightly, "Last night... I just, ugh, I felt... much safer with you there."

"I told you, I've got border patrol now," Blackfrost mewed quickly, feigning ignorance over what she had just admitted to him. He didn't have to respond if he hadn't heard it in the first place, right? Instead, he put on his usual annoyed front as he turned to see Flamepelt watching him expectantly from the gorse tunnel entrance, "But I'll be back by sunhigh at the latest. You'll be perfectly fine here in camp."

"I'll stay with her," a sudden feminine mew interjected, and he and Luna turned toward the voice simultaneously to see the pale tortoiseshell she-cat Robinsong padding up to them from the vicinity of the warriors' den.

"I heard the entire conversation," she added, nodding somewhat apologetically toward the kittypet in particular, as she blinked her soft amber eyes sleepily. "I won't have a patrol to be on until after Blackfrost gets back, so I wouldn't mind keeping you company around camp for the time being, Luna."

"Oh - thank you for offering, Robinsong," Luna mewed gratefully, her nervousness fading as she met eyes with the familiar face of the kind-hearted warrior she-cat, one of the few that she actually recognized.

Robinsong purred in a friendly manner and placed a gentle tail-tip at the kittypet's back. "Perhaps Maplefur will let you come see her kits at the nursery. They're still quite small yet, it's really cute."

"Thanks, Robinsong," Blackfrost muttered. "You'll be fine," he added toward Luna, and he nodded in farewell to the pair of she-cats before backing up and rushing off toward Flamepelt and Acornpaw at the gorse tunnel, not bothering to look behind him.

"I see you've been getting along rather well with our little guest?" Flamepelt meowed to him as he approached, a teasing edge to his tone. Blackfrost narrowed his eyes at the pale orange tom.

"Oh, please," he huffed. "That she-cat has been a pain in my tail ever since I brought her here."

Flamepelt shrugged lightly as if to say, _You know that's not entirely true_.

Or perhaps that was just the voice in the back of his mind saying it, but no matter. Blackfrost flicked his tail at his two Clanmates irritably and stomped off through the tunnel without a glance back at them, either, leaving the mentor and apprentice to exchange a bemused glance. "Come on. We've got a border to patrol."

* * *

"Oh, hello Blackfrost," Rosethorn's voice welcomed the black-furred warrior immediately as, for the second time that day, he stepped into the medicine cat's den. The patrol with Flamepelt and Acornpaw had gone smoothly, for the most part, and he had even caught a rather plump little rabbit on the way back to camp, which he had decided to offer to the medicine cat as the elders had already had their fill of fresh-kill.

The ThunderClan medicine cat was back and busy in her clearing, sitting with her back facing him as she sifted through what looked like an assortment of roots with her paws. She must have recognized him by scent alone.

"What brings you here into the medicine den again?" She paused, and turned her head over one shoulder to look at him quizzically. "You're not feeling sick, are you? I mean, I practically had the entire elders' den in here already, complaining about joint aches after that rainstorm we had last night stiffened them up, but you're still much too young for that sort of pain..."

Blackfrost purred in amusement. "I'm still a new warrior - don't expect joint aches from me anytime soon." He shrugged, and nudged the rabbit toward her. "I was just... checking up on you. I brought you something to eat."

"Old habits die hard, eh? You know, I'm fully capable of fetching my own prey," the tortoiseshell she-cat mewed pleasantly with a teasing flick of her tail, echoing the young warrior's own thoughts, but she pulled the fresh-kill toward her all the same. "It's appreciated, Blackfrost, but not necessary. I'm nowhere near an old cat yet, either!"

Her copper eyes flickered toward the only occupied nest in the den beside them, and Blackfrost couldn't help but glance at the all too familiar pile of fluffy white fur that took up the moss. "Though I highly doubt you stopped by just to see me... I may be more than capable, yes, but Luna, on the other paw... It'll still take some getting used to Clan life for her, to say the least."

The young tom's pelt twitched in discomfort.

"Only thought it should be mentioned," Rosethorn added with a shrug, and she turned back toward her piles of roots to be sorted. "It's a big change for a kittypet."

"Talking about me again, are you?" Luna mumbled, lifting her head and casting the pair of Clan cats an icy stare. "I hope some of that rabbit is for me!"

Blackfrost narrowed his eyes at her, then at the leftover remains of a meal nearby. "What are you doing asleep again? And didn't you _already_ eat? Where's Robinsong?"

The pale kittypet lazily rolled over in her nest, looking content and much more comfortable than she had just earlier that morning. "I'm not asleep any more. And Robinsong went off hunting with one of the other cats, I think her name was Mistydawn, after Rosethorn came back. She did show me Maplefur's kittens, though."

Blackfrost, however, after a furtive glance at the medicine cat who was currently occupied with her herbs, continued to glare right back at the fluffy she-cat. "How much did you _eat_?"

"Hey, I was really hungry!" Luna defended herself, brushing the last scraps of fresh-kill behind her with one paw. "And yes, then I took a nap, but it's no big deal!"

He felt a surge of inexplicable anger course through him. "Why don't you ever leave the camp? Or at least make yourself _useful_?" he asked scathingly, his pent up frustrations finally spilling over as he struggled to keep his storm of conflicting emotions at bay. "Ever since you got here, you've just been sitting around camp all day, eating and whining after other cats to _kit-sit_ you. You've been about as much use as a dead fox around here."

Luna shrunk back at his harsh tone, though she didn't avert her now fiercely challenging gaze; a confident, prepared to fight look that was common in warriors he had battled, but it always startled Blackfrost when he saw it in a kittypet's eyes, even when he knew for a fact that he could beat her in any battle as easily as he would bat away a shrew with one paw.

It didn't make any sense… Luna was probably the most pathetic, helpless kittypet he had seen, when it came to ability to hunt and fight and simply endure the wild on her own, and yet she must have some spark deep down inside her, the same spark he had seen the night she had stalked off after her outburst when the ThunderClan cats were discussing what to do with her.

Blackfrost shook the rambling train of thought out of his mind as he realized that Luna had been looking at him oddly, most likely wondering why he had just been blankly staring at her without saying a word for more than a few heartbeats.

"Listen…" he growled at a much quieter tone, reverting back to his former self, "You say it's _no big deal_ , but you really don't understand a thing. Leaf-bare is coming quickly, and you need to learn to pull your own weight here, or you're going to make a _lot_ of enemies here in ThunderClan, which is the last thing you need if you're going to survive. And we don't need an extra cat sitting around eating our precious few scraps of prey when the weather gets harsh, fresh-kill that should instead go to our own kits and nursing queens and elders first."

Luna looked him in the eye seriously, and he could sense something change within her. "I… I understand." She paused, then added carefully, as though she wasn't completely sure of what she was saying, "You… you can feed them first, from now on. Give them my share of the food…"

Blackfrost watched her, and an idea popped into his mind. It was a crazy thought, really, but an idea nonetheless.

"Luna… Perhaps you should come out into the forest with me. There's… something that I need to explain to you. Something important."

He met her gaze directly, forest green with icy blue, and finally Luna nodded. Together, they stepped through the fern tunnel, leaving Rosethorn watching after them in purposeful silence with a curious look in her eye, one paw positioned thoughtfully over a stray comfrey root. She sat still for a moment, then shrugged and took a bite out of her rabbit.

* * *

Their walk into the forest was quiet, as neither cat dared open their mouth to speak first and break the heavy silence between them. Blackfrost hadn't planned ahead as to where they would go once they left the ThunderClan camp; he only knew that he wanted to get away somewhere, hopefully where his Clanmates wouldn't eavesdrop on them. He stole a glance at Luna as they stepped over the high ridge of the ravine, then sighed and swatted at a stray leaf with one paw. Planning out his words carefully before saying them out loud.

"Look, Luna…" he began slowly, eyeing her face for any reaction, "This is something really important that I have to tell you. All the cats in the Clans – and not just ThunderClan, mind you – follow this one set of rules, our own code for living out here in the forest."

She nodded, not looking at him, and he continued. "It's called the warrior code, and every warrior knows it by heart; first taught to them in the earliest moons of kithood, ever since the realization that they were part of a Clan came to them. The code is built upon in their apprenticeship, and strictly obeyed by all warriors until their final dying breath."

He turned to her, his gaze vaguely condescending as he added, "Even our smallest kit here in ThunderClan knows more about the warrior code than you."

Luna flinched back slightly. "Then… Could you teach me? About this 'code'?"

Blackfrost paused, then nodded hesitantly. "I'm going to have to if you'll be living here for any serious length of time. I won't force you to live by it, but perhaps then… you'll better understand us, and why we do what we do."

He looked away again as they walked on, staring up at the thin, bare tree limbs that branched over their heads like sets of unsheathed claws, as their pawsteps crunched over the dry blanket of fallen leaves that covered the ground underfoot.

"Some of the rules are basic, like 'no trespassing or hunting on another Clan's territory.'" He flicked his tail and continued before Luna could protest, "I _know_ you don't know the boundary lines yet, but we'll show you if we ever venture out that far. We have to check and mark them daily, like I did on that border patrol earlier, and challenge all trespassers…"

Luna nodded, understanding. "That's why you threatened me when you first met me, even though I meant no harm," she mewed softly, half to herself. "You were only following the rules…"

Blackfrost tried not to meet her eyes again. "And like I might have mentioned earlier, kits, queens, and elders are always fed before any other cat, especially in leaf-bare. Apprentices, in particular, don't eat unless they have offered prey to the elders first."

"...However, some parts of the code are less straightforward." He prodded at another leaf on the ground before him, now deep in thought. "For instance, the word of the Clan leader _is_ the warrior code… But what happens if your leader tells you to do something that goes _against_ the warrior code? Like hunt on another Clan's territory, or dive headfirst into an unjust battle?"

"...The code also says that no warrior may neglect a kit in pain or danger, regardless of where it came from," he went on after a long sigh. "And an honorable warrior does not need to kill any cat to win his battles, unless it is necessary for self-defense… or if they live outside the warrior code."

Speaking of living outside the warrior code… Should he tell her?

"And... a warrior outright rejects the soft life of a kittypet. It's practically the opposite of everything we stand for."

There. He said it.

He turned to look the kittypet straight in the eye before she could respond, his tone serious. "But most importantly… A warrior must defend his Clan, even with his life if it comes right down to it. Which doesn't mean you can't be friendly toward cats from other Clans, but in the end, if you meet them in battle, your loyalty must be to your own Clan first and foremost. That's what makes us strong as warriors."

Luna stared at him for a long time in silence, and Blackfrost couldn't tell whether the kittypet had even heard what he said. At least, not until she finally spoke up, her voice shaking slightly as she carefully chose her next words. "No wonder… you Clan cats hate me so much. I-I'm a _kittypet_ , as you say. I'm soft, and weak, and I must… I must seem so selfish to you. All of you. You're not just a bunch of wild ruffians, you're… generous, and brave… and you have rules that you follow…"

"I-I don't _hate_ you," Blackfrost blurted out before he could stop himself, but didn't bother to correct it. "And I can teach you… how to hunt, and how to defend yourself…"

Luna abruptly shook her head, and this time, she had a very different albeit distinct look of worry on her face. "No… No, you can't."

"What do you mean?" he asked, genuinely confused now. "I'm sure even a kittypet like yourself could do it if you really set your mind to it, once you've been properly taught how it's done. Here, listen-"

He paused and turned around, beckoning Luna to stay still and quiet with a flick of his dark tail, and pricked his ears toward the faint shuffling sound coming from a pile of leaves gathered among the wide roots of an old oak tree. "There's a mouse here, right now," he whispered. "Why don't you go after it? Just give it a try? So I can see how much we'll have to tea-"

"I _said_ , I can't do it!" Luna insisted adamantly, shaking her head. Her meow must have been just a bit too loud, as the shuffling stopped and the tiny brown rodent poked its head out from among the leaves, sniffing the air, before scurrying off on its quick little feet.

"Fine." Blackfrost rolled his eyes, growing increasingly annoyed, and shot off after the fleeing mouse, just missing the creature by a whisker as it escaped among the roots of the oak tree.

He growled in frustration. "Ugh, stupid mouse..." The warrior swatted at the hole in the roots where the mouse had disappeared into and then looked up, sniffing the air for the scent of any other possible prey, "Perhaps we could try again, further up the-"

"I told you already, _no_. I can't!"

"But why _not_?" They glared at each other.

Luna glanced down at her feet, lifting a delicate paw and turning it over to inspect it, before abruptly shoving it directly into Blackfrost's face. "Just, _look_!"

"What?" He eyed her paw warily, uncomprehending, and she sighed.

"I… I don't have... claws."

 _Huh_? Blackfrost stared at her paw, then at her, and then back again, his tone disbelieving as he spoke, almost skeptical. In fact, he was too surprised to even adopt the mockingly condescending attitude he usually used with the kittypet.

"What do you mean, you don't have claws? Every cat has claws; how could you not?"

Luna looked distressed at this remark, as if she too really had no clue as to why she was lacking the one thing that every cat needed to survive. "I-I don't know… I know I used to have them, I _must_ have, but they... they disappeared when I was very young… Before I even remember meeting my housefolk." She shivered, staring down at her feet, her stammered words so faint now. "I-I don't remember…I don't know what happened to them. My claws, they were just, _gone_. And my mother, I-I think... But no, I really can't remember..."

He looked at her paws again, closer this time. What she was saying... seemed to be entirely true.

Blackfrost's gaze softened as he watched the snow white kittypet shake in a distressed state of confusion as she fought to recall her past. She seemed to be in actual pain, but not the physical kind. He couldn't help but feel sorry for her – he couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like to wake up one day and find that his beloved front claws were completely gone. How would he be able to hunt? How would he fight? Climb trees, or even balance properly?

And although Luna was a mere kittypet who never had to hunt or fight in her life, she still needed claws, like any other cat. She was lucky he was there to save her from the dog; otherwise, how could she have possibly defended herself?

"But why...? How does something like that just... disappear?"

He watched, lost for words, as Luna stared at her paws intently, her eyes narrowing as she struggled with the vague memories that nagged at the back of her mind. What had happened to her? Blackfrost was now certain, more than ever, that the life of a kittypet was the absolute last thing he'd ever want. A life without harsh leaf-bares and sickness, no threat of hunger or unknown dangers lurking, yes, but a life without the companionship of his close Clanmates, the adrenaline rush of racing into battle or biting into a juicy, freshly caught mouse, as well.

The dark warrior's insides bubbled with guilt as he recalled how cruelly he had treated the kittypet as of late. She was even more helpless than he had ever imagined, but it hadn't been a result of her own doing.

"That's why… you couldn't defend yourself from that dog," he breathed aloud.

Despite himself, Blackfrost brushed Luna's shoulder with the tip of his tail, and she looked up sadly. He tilted his head at her. "You really did need me there to protect you."

For once, Luna didn't argue.

* * *

 **A/N: Yes, Luna is a declawed cat, only on her front paws. I don't know of many declawed cats, as it's really not something you should do, but I still added this characteristic to her because I thought it would be an interesting aspect for the warrior cats to deal with, seeing as how it's uncommon practice and would definitely greatly inhibit a warrior's ability.**

 **Also, I'm sorry about this late update - I've had a _lot_ of exams, a seemingly never-ending stream of them haha, and I had a bit of trouble writing this particular chapter. It's my longest one yet, and I had actually finished the next chapter before I had written this one, so my next update should come much quicker than this one had. ****I know Luna probably sounded especially whiny and helpless in this chapter, but then again, this _is_ from Blackfrost's point of view. This last scene was particularly important for the storyline, so p** **lease let me know what you think!**

 **-CCM**


	14. Ch12: Claws and Ideas

CHAPTER 12

 _Dogs... No claws... Can't get away..._

 _Gotta... Gotta fight them off..._

 _Need help..._

Blackfrost awoke the next morning with a vaguely queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, and it had nothing to do with the shrew he had eaten the night before. Faint residual images from his unsettling dreams flashed across his mind, fading away as quickly as they had come. But he knew what had caused them in the first place.

Luna…

After their conversation out in the forest the day before, Blackfrost had avoided the kittypet as much as possible. Which turned out to be a bit easier than he thought, as she didn't seem too keen on leaving the medicine cat den again, not even to fetch a meal.

It wasn't that he didn't want to see her; he just wasn't sure what else to say to her.

But he had to say _something_. An idea was already forming in his mind.

The dark warrior lay still for a moment, then shook his head vigorously and rolled out of his nest. All these emotions muddling up his mind like sodden leaves caught in the stream were starting to make his head ache. Perhaps a good hunt would help clear it, at least in the moment. It would give him something else to focus his thoughts on, at the very least.

A few cats were still sitting around in the clearing when he stepped outside, including a couple of the elders basking in the sunlight just outside their den in an attempt to warm away the growing leaf-bare chill, and the warriors Lightningstripe and Raincloud contentedly sharing a rather large squirrel between them.

The large black and white warrior Moletooth was already sitting right at the mouth of the gorse tunnel, most likely waiting for the midday border patrol to embark with an irritable look in his eye. His tail lashed with an air of impatience. Blackfrost wouldn't envy whoever was keeping him waiting.

Before he could turn back to the medicine cat's den, the lithe warrior Sparrowflight quickly approached him from the clump of ferns where the apprentices dwelled, her own small apprentice Wrenpaw trailing right behind with a gleam of excitement in her pale green eyes, as though her calm exterior was merely a cover up for the true bounding enthusiasm within.

"Ready for the patrol?" Sparrowflight mewed pleasantly as she stepped forward, nodding toward the entrance where Moletooth sat watching with narrowed eyes. "Hawktalon just decided that you're to join us today, so I hope you don't have any other plans, or you're going to have to put them off a bit!"

She shrugged. "Admittedly, we shouldn't have too much trouble – the dawn patrol brought back nothing of interest. The other Clans have been pretty quiet lately, it seems."

"Doesn't mean there isn't some sort of trouble brewing," Moletooth muttered gruffly, overhearing the conversation. "There's always a calm before the storm, so they say. And the last Gathering was cancelled, so who knows what the other Clans have been up to in the past moon... For all we know, they could be planning something big."

Sparrowflight rolled her eyes at that idea, but she didn't argue with the senior warrior. Blackfrost took this as his chance to speak up.

"Er – could you just give me a moment?" The younger warrior asked quickly, and he feigned a grimace. "I'm sorry, I… have to go see Rosethorn first."

"Are you sick?" Wrenpaw piped up in concern, staring at the black tom with wide eyes, and Blackfrost twitched his tail in discomfort.

"Um, I… I've just had a bit of a stomachache all morning," he lied. Well, half-lied. "Must have been a bad shrew I ate last night, nothing too serious. I'd just like to see if Rosethorn has any herbs that might help – I'll be right back."

"You'd better be," Moletooth grumbled as Blackfrost turned away. "I'm not waiting around here for a sickly cat all day."

"Yeah…" Taking a deep breath, Blackfrost rushed off toward the fern tunnel for what seemed like the hundredth time in a quarter-moon, quickly thinking up what exactly he was going to say.

"Oh, hello Blackfrost," the tortoiseshell medicine cat mewed as he entered the shaded den, an amused gleam in her eye. "Nice to see you, yet again; by StarClan, you've stopped by so many times, one would think you wanted to be a medicine cat too!"

She gave him a curious sideways look. "Though aren't you on the sunhigh patrol today? Hawkfrost announced the patrols earlier."

Blackfrost found himself nodding vaguely, not quite fully processing what she said. He couldn't help but notice Luna currently consumed in her work, spreading fresh moss over one of the nearby nests while the old moss was scraped to the side, wadded up in a messy pile beside her. A job most likely assigned to her by the medicine cat.

"Er - are you busy right now?"

Rosethorn shrugged. "I was just about to set out to gather more herbs – with leaf-bare approaching, we'll need to stock up on all the herbs we can find before the first harsh frost kills them off."

Behind her, Luna momentarily met eyes with Blackfrost and then quickly looked away, and he felt an odd sinking sensation in his stomach that didn't have anything to do with his feigned bellyache.

"Rosethorn… there's something I need to talk to you about…" he spoke up hesitantly. The tortoiseshell she-cat looked at him seriously, analyzing him up and down.

"What is it? Are you sick, or injured?"

Blackfrost hastily shook his head. "No, it's not me…"

"Then what?" She snorted. "Spit it out, I don't have all day."

"It's about –" he jerked his head in the direction of the kittypet behind them, who had just turned away at the right time, " – _her_."

Rosethorn nodded in new understanding, her coppery eyes narrowing in thought. "Luna?" she called out, "I'm just stepping out into the clearing for a moment; I'll be right back."

Blackfrost pulled Rosethorn aside into the fern tunnel as Luna continued rearranging the bedding without a word to the pair of them. "So like I said," he mewed quietly, still concerned that the she-cat could hear them, "There's something about Luna that I thought you should know. I mean, if you don't already, that is."

"Go on…"

"She… she doesn't have claws." Blackfrost nearly cringed at his own directness. Why did explaining things have to come so difficult to him? "She told me yesterday, when I took her out into the forest for a bit… I-I was trying to show her how to hunt, so she could actually be of some use around here, but she refused... She couldn't do it because she didn't have claws anymore. I mean, she said she _used_ to have them, at least she thinks she did, but now she... doesn't."

The medicine cat didn't say anything, so he hurriedly continued, "She even showed me, so I know she isn't lying. But she couldn't even remember it... She said it had happened a long time ago, probably when she was just a kit."

Confused, he shook his head. "Claws just disappearing like that.. _._ How is that even possible? Have you ever heard of such a thing? "

Rosethorn stared at him thoughtfully. "I-I don't know... I don't believe I've ever heard of such a thing before. I've never met a clawless cat. But... I do know strange things sometimes happen to kittypets living with Twolegs. It changes them, makes them into a different cat, in some cases. Perhaps it had something to do with Twolegs?"

Blackfrost snorted. "Twolegs are _stupid._ I don't know why Luna keeps trying to defend them, especially after that."

"I wouldn't argue with you there," Rosethorn replied distractedly. "Now, was that all you wanted to tell me?"

"No…" the black-furred warrior admitted. "To be honest, I'm… worried about her. I was going to try helping her with Clan ways, but how can we teach her to hunt and fight if she doesn't even have claws? It puts her at an enormous disadvantage, even disregarding her background on top of it. And… and I don't want the rest of the Clan to find out about it, either. Not if we can help it, at least. I don't know what they would do to her if… if they found out just how useless she really is."

"Perhaps…" Rosethorn started, then paused abruptly.

"What?" Blackfrost urged.

"…She can act as my assistant, for the time being." Rosethorn pondered the thought. "I mean, I've already got her helping out with changing the bedding in my den. I could take her out to gather herbs with me… collecting leaves doesn't necessarily require claws, after all."

Blackfrost shook his head incredulously at the idea, and added under his breath so that the she-cat in question couldn't hear from within the den, "She's not a medicine cat, or your apprentice. That kittypet doesn't know the first thing about herbs!"

Rosethorn dismissively waved the young warrior's words away with one paw. " _You_ don't know the first thing about herbs, either. But once I show her the basic leaves and plants I most often use, there's no reason she can't do the job just as well as any other ThunderClan warrior would. You never know – I'm still a young cat, so I don't have an apprentice yet, but she just might prove useful."

"Are you sure?" Blackfrost had trouble believing that anyone could find the soft, clawless kittypet to be useful. She was practically the exact opposite of any Clan cat!

But the tortoiseshell medicine cat merely shrugged. "It's worth a try, at any rate. I'll see how she fares when we go out today, and we'll take it from there."

She let out an amused meow. "Now go on, don't keep your patrol waiting, or you'll be right back in here after they claw your ears off in frustration. I promise we'll keep Luna's situation our little secret, at least for the time being."

* * *

Moletooth, Sparrowflight, and Wrenpaw were still waiting for him in the clearing a few tail-lengths from the gorse tunnel, just as Rosethorn had predicted. Luckily, however, they didn't yet seem annoyed enough to claw his ears off for keeping them waiting, though Moletooth was probably close, judging by his expression.

"Hurry up," he commanded brusquely as Blackfrost stepped toward them. "Time to go. The dawn patrol reported no unusual activity down the RiverClan border up toward Twolegplace, so we're set to patrol the length of the ShadowClan and WindClan borders."

Without another word, the elder warrior turned and vanished into the gorse tunnel, leaving his three Clanmates to follow in his wake up the ravine and through the trees before they were left behind.

"Can you scent any prey, or trespassers?" Sparrowflight asked her apprentice as the four cats padded through the undergrowth, steadily approaching the border with ShadowClan. "I know we're not on a hunting patrol, but any bit of prey caught is helpful, especially during this particular season."

The small apprentice sniffed tentatively at the air. "I smell… squirrel?"

Her mentor nodded encouragingly. "Yes, that's very good… Must be out collecting nuts for leaf-bare. Anything else?"

Wrenpaw breathed deeply through her nose again, more sure of herself this time, and closed her eyes as she pondered each new scent. "There's some kind of bird, definitely… though I'm not sure exactly what, sorry.'

"That's woodpecker."

The apprentice flicked her tail once, acknowledging her mentor's words without breaking her concentration. "I think there's a mouse nearby too… And – _ew_ , what is _that_?"

Her eyes flickered open and she crinkled her face in disgust at the sudden new smell assaulting her senses, then turned toward Sparrowflight questioningly.

The three elder warriors all sniffed at the air without hesitance, and her mentor was the first to reply. "That's… a fox!"

Wrenpaw's eyes immediately widened even further, if that were possible, and she whipped her head around fearfully as though she expected a dozen deranged foxes to come hurtling straight at her through the woods as they spoke. "Is it nearby?" she meowed in alarm.

Sparrowflight sniffed the air again, then shook her head, though the fur on her back still bristled at the scent of fox. "That scent has been stale since sunrise, at least. But it's recent enough that the fox is still on our territory somewhere, most likely. Especially if it's made a den nearby. We're not close enough to any border yet for it to be any other Clan's problem but our own."

"Great," Blackfrost muttered sarcastically. "Lucky us."

"We should probably report this back to Foreststar," Moletooth mentioned, his eyes narrowing with distaste. "With any luck, it's just passing through; we don't need a fox settling down on our territory. Foxes bring nothing but trouble."

Blackfrost nodded in agreement – foxes were violent animals known to cause big problems for the Clan cats when encountered, and a hungry fox desperate for a sparse leaf-bare meal wouldn't hesitate to steal kits from the nursery as their prey. The young warrior shuddered at the very thought. A fox on ThunderClan territory was never good news.

Back when he had been a tiny kit in the nursery, still suckling milk from his adoptive mother Woodfern with Robinkit and Snakekit, a fox had attempted to break through the thorny barrier to get at them. Luckily, the other queens at the time, Bluemist and Mistydawn, had been there to help Woodfern drive it away with some serious scarring that the creature wouldn't soon forget.

That fox in particular surely hadn't gone for any cats after that encounter, but this was a different fox, and there was no telling what it thought of cats yet.

Wrenpaw still looked immensely worried at the thought of a fox roaming around ThunderClan territory, presumably for the same reasons that Blackfrost himself was concerned, but Sparrowflight settled her tail against the young she-cat's back comfortingly.

"Come, Wrenpaw. We'll finish patrolling this length of the ShadowClan border, and then return to camp to report our findings. I'm sure Foreststar will send out another patrol to drive the fox away from our territory soon enough, make sure it leaves ThunderClan alone for good, so you won't have to worry about Maplefur's kits being harmed one bit."

Moletooth nodded his assent, abruptly stepping forward to continue leading the border patrol toward the boundary with ShadowClan. "...And we'll all keep an eye out for any trouble until then."

* * *

 **A/N:** **Some added info from the last chapter, in response to one reviewer - cat declawing is a surgical amputation that permanently removes the cat's claws (as well as a portion of bone) from their toes, so they won't even grow back. The procedure is very uncommon or even illegal in most countries, since it's pretty universally recognized as animal abuse now, as far as I know. I thought it would be interesting to include a cat who had it done just to add in some more drama to the mix, but Luna is the only one, and it happened to her as a very young kitten before she had been adopted by her current housefolk.**

 **Anyway, I apologize for the long wait period between updates, I had been very busy for a while with exams and some other serious personal stuff on top of all that. I do hope this was worth the wait! I actually had to do another chapter split, as much as I hate doing that, since this one was just getting so long. Like, well over 5,000 words long. Which isn't too crazy, really, but long enough that it was quite a bit bigger than any of my other chapters for this story and really bothered me, haha. At least in this case, cutting it in half worked just fine.**

 **Please feel free to leave a review, and let me know if you have any questions or concerns about the story and characters and whatnot! I'm currently on break, so that means more free time to relax and write!**

 **-CCM**


	15. Ch13: Berries and Bad Luck

CHAPTER 13

"Come, Luna," the ThunderClan medicine cat Rosethorn called to the pale grey and white she-cat padding along behind her, "We're looking for juniper berries, and borage leaves for the nursing queens, and tansy if we can manage to find any. My stores have been running low as of late, so I'd like to restock before the need for them is urgent."

"Mmkay," Luna mumbled over the cluster of large, broad beech leaves she held in her mouth, useful for carrying whatever herbs they managed to find on this expedition into the forest. Just earlier, Rosethorn had shown her what a few of the plants she needed looked like, though they were all utterly unfamiliar to her; lots of different green, leafy things with variably fragrant scents.

But now, she was too distracted over following Rosethorn's near-camouflaged mottled pelt through the undergrowth without stumbling over all the roots and rocks beneath her paws to try and look for strange plants, as well. The ThunderClan cat hadn't described to her any berries back at the medicine cat den, as she had completely run out of those in particular, but Luna recalled seeing the odd hairy-looking green leaves of borage and the tiniest bit of dried up tansy.

Luna wasn't quite sure what had made the ThunderClan medicine cat decide to drag her along on this particular outing in the first place. She was fairly certain she wouldn't be of any use to the Clan cat out here, of all places – why couldn't she have just brought along one of the apprentices to help her, instead? Wasn't it their job to help their Clanmates, or something?

Then Luna remembered what Blackfrost had told her the day before, about the so-called warrior code and duty to the Clan and pulling your own weight, and not sitting around "like a lazy kittypet" even if you _technically_ were one. Deep down, she knew she didn't want the other cats to hate her, even if it only meant they were slightly less likely to kill her off or drive her away for being so useless… and after getting more of their side of the story, she could understand why they might. No sense in encouraging it.

That was why Luna had originally agreed to help Rosethorn change the bedding in her den, even if it wasn't a particularly fun or exciting job. At least it wasn't very involved, not like gathering herbs was.

She had felt Blackfrost's gaze on her pelt while she worked, when he visited that morning talk with the tortoiseshell she-cat… But Luna couldn't find it within her to speak to him, for once. He was obviously on a mission, anyway, though she wasn't entirely sure what the young warrior wanted with the medicine cat. She had a nagging suspicion it had something to do with her, judging from the way the tom quickly averted his gaze after accidentally stealing a glance at her, though who knew - perhaps he just wasn't feeling well and wanted to discuss it with Rosethorn privately.

However, after the two Clan cats' conversation (which Luna hadn't been a part of), Rosethorn had returned and quickly asked her to come help collect herbs out on ThunderClan territory without any further thought. Luna's faint mews of protest fell on deaf ears as the medicine cat pulled the remaining medicinal plants from her stores and began going through which reserves most needed to be replenished.

So now, as the sun crawled higher into the sky beyond the bare treetops, the pale housecat was left wondering just why exactly she was here, wandering through the forest after this wild cat, searching for things she didn't fully understand the significance of.

"Ah, here we are!" The tortoiseshell medicine cat finally exclaimed. "A whole crop of borage!"

She gestured with her tail for Luna to approach the plant with her. "See? I'll dig them up, and then you can carry them while I keep looking for some juniper berries."

Already growing somewhat bored, Luna glanced over her shoulder as Rosethorn took her time to carefully dig up the dark green herbs from the dirt, and noticed a nearby bush dotted with deep red berries. Rosethorn said she was looking for some sort of berries… Perhaps these were what she meant?

"Rosethorn!" Luna gently spat the beech leaves from her mouth and padded over toward the strange berry bush, swiping at one of the tiny red fruits with one paw. "Are these juniper berries?"

Before the medicine cat could respond, Luna reached forward to pick one from the nearest branch with her teeth, and promptly felt a large furry weight pummel her in the side, knocking the breath right out of her.

" _Don't_ touch those!"

Luna, now fallen on her side with her nice white pelt coated in dirt – oh, it would take _forever_ to clean her fur now – glared at the tortoiseshell she-cat who now towered over her, and felt far more angry than scared for once now that a wild Clan cat was seemingly about to attack her.

"What was _that_ for?" She spat, her eyes blazing. "Look at this, now I'm all dirty! I was only trying to _help_!"

"I apologize for snapping at you like that," Rosethorn added irritably, albeit somewhat shaken, "but those are _not_ juniper berries. They're _death_ berries."

" _Deathberries_?" Luna repeated, a newfound sense of fear entering her voice, and she quickly backed away from the little red berries on the bush as though even standing in the vicinity of them would cause her immediate death.

"Yes, and you mustn't touch them. They may look nice and pretty on the bush, but swallow that wicked little seed hidden away within the berry, and you'll be dead before you can take another breath."

Luna glanced over at the bush full of bright red berries again with a shudder, not wanting to even think about what might have happened had the ThunderClan cat not been there to immediately push her away. Rosethorn had sounded so serious about it, her voice hushed and solemn as she explained the near-miss.

"I'm sorry," Luna mewed quietly. "I really am just a nuisance, aren't I? Like dragging around a useless kitten!"

Rosethorn's gaze softened, just slightly. "Perhaps a bit… But there's still time to turn it around."

She nudged at Luna to pick up the bundle of borage leaves she had collected, and then continued walking up the length of the ravine. "Next, we should probably try and find some chervil, but those herbs only grow around Snakerocks."

"Snakerocks?" Luna echoed, her eyes widening. First death berries, and now this? No wonder her housefolk never wanted her to go outside, she thought, with dangers like this around every corner, it seemed!

The tortoiseshell nodded. "You'll have to stick near me, and keep an eye out. The adders around Snakerocks are venomous, but so long as you're careful this time, you should be perfectly fine. And please, _don't_ touch things if you don't know what they are."

They treaded forward through the forest on light paws, Luna half-wondering what other dangers could possibly be lurking around any nearby tree or bush.

Finally, they came to a more open space where sunlight filtered easily through the bare tree branches and the ground was piled up high with large grey boulders that loomed in front of the two cats, sparse scraggly weeds growing out of the cracks between them, forming a rather steep rocky slope. So those were the rocks, but Luna didn't see any snakes, not that she wanted to.

"Keep on the lookout for any adders, will you?" Rosethorn called, and before Luna could protest, she leapt up onto the rocks in search of her herbs. The fluffy white she-cat watched after her nervously, unsure of whether or not she should follow the tortoiseshell up the uneven slope, but she finally decided to just stay put. It was harder to get into any trouble if you didn't move, after all.

"Oh!" Rosethorn called out suddenly, and Luna felt her throat tighten at the thought of the Clan cat getting bitten by a snake right in front of her, but as it turned out, she had merely discovered some small flowering plants growing among the rocks. "This yarrow will do quite nicely!"

Luna's gaze began to wander as the medicine cat carefully tugged the little herbs up by their roots, and something else came to her immediate attention.

"Ugh, what's that _smell_?" she hissed through the clump of herbs in her mouth, her nose crinkling in disgust. Even the leaves' pungent fragrance didn't help one bit to mask the smell that now assaulted her senses. "It's disgusting!"

Rosethorn, however, didn't seem as affected by the rancid stench, as she set down her bundle of yarrow and sniffed at the air thoughtfully. "Hmmm…"

At that moment, the reeking odor became nothing less than overpowering to Luna, and it seemed to be coming from all around her. Hearing a rustling in the undergrowth behind her, she turned, and immediately felt a sense panic rise up in her chest. "Rosethorn!"

Rosethorn turned toward the sound of Luna's panicked yowl just as the pale she-cat recklessly shot up the rocks toward her, scrabbling on the jagged surfaces where her clawless paws wouldn't hold, and a strange black and white animal that certainly wasn't a cat stumbled out from the bushes. For a moment, she feared it was a badger - a medicine cat and a fat kittypet with no claws would be no match for such a beast - but quickly realized that wasn't the case.

This was something much more unusual.

"I-It's a _skunk_!" Rosethorn mewed, her coppery eyes widening in surprise. She had never actually seen one before with her own eyes, and never expected to. She could hardly remember a thing about them - the strong-smelling animals were mostly just featured in stories told to young kits. But did skunks attack cats?

"I think we woke it up," she realized as the odd creature merely stumbled away, ignoring the two cats up on the rocks, blinking its beady eyes in confusion.

"My _fur_!" Luna wailed. "It _stinks_!"

Rosethorn looked over at her seriously. "What happened? Are you alright?"

"I-it _sprayed_ me!"

The ThunderClan medicine cat leaned forward, but a sudden strong whiff of the pale she-cat's stinking fur caused her to jerk backward, the pungent odor taking her by surprise for a moment. She swiftly regained her composure and sighed, shaking her head. "Looks like the chervil will have to wait."

* * *

Moments later, Luna found herself ushered back to the ThunderClan camp, bundles of borage and yarrow clenched in her jaws and her pristine white fur now stinking like a dog that had rolled in its own dirt and let it settle there upon its pelt to fester for a couple days. Or worse, if that were possible.

The pretty brown queen Maplefur was basking outside the nursery when the pair of she-cats pushed through the gorse tunnel into the clearing, her three young kits playing with a small clump of moss in the sunlight, knocking the makeshift ball about and tossing it between them. Almost instantaneously, the kits stopped playing and stared at the older cats distractedly, their now-forgotten moss ball bouncing away toward the bramble wall as their tiny noses crinkled in disgust. " _Ew_ , what's that smell?"

"So gross!" the sturdy brown kit exclaimed, his tail held aloft.

"Luna here was sprayed by a skunk," Rosethorn explained to the kits quickly, stepping around them on her way back to the den.

"What's a _skunk_?" the tiniest little white kit piped up curiously, staring at Luna with pale eyes the size of moons.

"It's a black and white animal that's _very_ stinky," Rosethorn meowed, "so you better hope you're never sprayed by one, too."

"Oh, so it's something a bit like Moletooth," the ginger kit whispered, and then collapsed into a fit of giggles at his own little joke.

"Shhh," his little sister hissed in his ear, "don't let the warriors hear you saying such things about them, or they might not let us be apprentices!"

Rosethorn, however, ignored the kit, and hurriedly pulled Luna back toward her den before any more of the Clan cats left in camp could catch a whiff of the putrid skunk smell and realize it was coming from the kittypet. No need to give her Clanmates any more reason to antagonize the poor thing even further. Surely, the skunk-spraying incident combined with the shock of nearly swallowing deathberries had been a traumatic enough experience for one day.

Luna wasn't completely shielded from the ThunderClan cats' scathing comments, however. Sure, most of the warriors were out hunting or on patrol at this time of day, but that didn't stop the few warriors who were still around from sneering at the skunk-smelling kittypet in disgust before Rosethorn could rush her into the quiet medicine cat clearing. The pair of she-cats didn't miss the taunting hiss of the red-furred warrior Foxtail just as they disappeared into the protective shade of the ferns.

"Ugh, now _this_ on top of all the kittypet stink? I can't even remember the last time this camp smelled properly of ThunderClan!"

She had overheard Rosethorn hastily explaining the skunk situation to the three kits, and as one of the biggest dissenters over Foreststar's decision to allow Luna to stay in the Clan, even the medicine cat knew she was probably one of the last cats they wanted to alert to the current predicament. But no matter, now - there was a much more pressing issue to take care of at the moment.

Rosethorn dove into her private den within the crevice in the rock as Luna placed their collected herb bundles on the ground and stood there awkwardly, waiting, her tail still thrashing in distress.

"...Perhaps some lavender or rosemary will do. Maybe a bit of mint, too..." Rosethorn pulled the plants in question from her stores, nudging them toward the pale she-cat.

Luna simply stared at her. "Do _what_ , exactly?"

"Well, they're herbs with a very pleasant smell, so we generally use them to mask the scent of death while preparing a body for burial," the medicine cat explained very matter-of-factly, ignoring the horrified expression that crossed the fluffy she-cat's face, "...But perhaps we can also use them to attempt to cover up some of that skunk smell staining your fur."

"I-I'm not _dead_!" Luna stammered.

"I never said you were," Rosethorn countered. "It's worth a try, at any rate; I admit, I've never encountered this issue before, so I'm not entirely sure what will work to get rid of it. Skunks aren't very common around these parts at all; in fact, I've never seen one myself prior to today, and I don't know when one was spotted on ThunderClan territory last. It was probably many moons ago, perhaps even before I was born. So it seems you just got unlucky this time. Very unlucky."

Luna sighed, and grudgingly allowed the medicine cat to begin rubbing the strange, sweet-scented flowers into her fur, wondering what exactly she did in her life to deserve this mess and trusting that the Clan cat knew what she was doing. "Seems like luck has never been on my side as of late…"

She slumped down onto the grass in the medicine clearing, not even willing to lay in her own nest for fear of stinking up the moss. "I'm a failure," she groaned. "I'm not cut out for any of this! Not hunting, not fighting... And I don't know _why_ you decided this herb-gathering thing would be a good idea. Why am I even here? I'm not a wild cat, not like all of you!"

Rosethorn gave a soft purr of amusement at the disgruntled outburst. "It's not so bad. You could just use some... practice."

"I don't _want_ practice," the kittypet grumbled lowly in retort, "I don't even want to be here at all. I just want to go home..."

She closed her eyes as the medicine cat worked on her pelt, the deep, constant ache in her heart weighing down so heavily now that she was almost afraid the Clan cat could sense it, too. She had no home, not anymore. Her housefolk were gone, simply disappeared without a trace... She had seen the emptiness they had left behind with her own eyes. It had been bad enough the first time around; she didn't think she could ever bear returning to the house and facing that same hopeless sight again.

Going home was no longer an option.

She just wanted more than anything to snuggle up in Robert's warm lap one more time, to feel Joanne tenderly stroke her fur again with a gentle hand; she even missed sitting on the windowsill with Selene and counting the different birds that flew by outside. But remembering the past hurt, badly.

And so, she was almost glad that Rosethorn chose that exact moment to distract her with a story about the time three of the ThunderClan apprentices had stayed a night in the medicine den after a small mishap involving a rather unwise bet, a massive oak tree, an enormous tawny owl, and a surprise swim in an overflowing stream.

* * *

The sun was still quite high in the sky when there was a rustling at the gorse tunnel entrance into the ThunderClan camp; the midday border patrol had returned.

Feeling a bit drowsy after another largely uneventful patrol, Blackfrost paused just within the camp clearing as Moletooth determinedly strode off toward the Highrock to warn Foreststar of the fox scented in ThunderClan territory, and Sparrowflight joined Wrenpaw at the moderately stocked fresh-kill pile to set down the prey they had each caught on the trek back.

Something just wasn't right. The camp smelled... _funny_ , to say the very least. And it seemed to grow even stronger the more he focused on it. It certainly didn't smell good, and it wasn't any scent the young warrior recognized, either. For a moment, a sense of panic rose up in his chest - had the fox already broken past the camp barriers? Were the kits in danger?

But then he realized this particular scent was much, _much_ worse than any fox he had ever smelled. Unless, of course, it had been rolling around in badger dung or something before breaking into the camp, which he didn't think a fox would be stupid enough do. And the kits were perfectly fine, too; Maplefur's small trio frolicked happily in the patch of sunlight just outside the nursery where their mother sat watching them, batting around a ball of moss and tackling each other playfully.

Blackfrost took a few steps further into the clearing, still trying to put his paws on what exactly was so different now, when one of the cats he least felt like seeing approached him from he had been lying in wait beside the warriors' den.

"Doesn't your kittypet know how to bathe herself?" Snakefang spoke up first; the dark grey tom's tone was harsh, but his eyes held their usual mocking gleam. "I mean, I know she grew up with Twolegs, so you can't expect too much from her, but you'd think she would at least know the _basics_."

"Huh?" Blackfrost whipped his head around to stare at his foster brother questioningly. "What are you going on about now?"

"Your little friend got sprayed by a _skunk_!" the she-cat Foxtail added in a hiss, striding up to the two brothers from where she, too, had been sitting near the warriors' den. "And now she's stinking up the entire camp _twice_ as much as usual!"

"A skunk?" Blackfrost blinked in confusion, then quickly shrugged it off and lashed his tail irritably. "Okay, explain what in StarClan you're both talking about, _now_."

"Don't have to do anything of the sort," Foxtail muttered under her breath at his demand, but Snakefang merely rolled his eyes and clarified, "Foxtail here overheard Rosethorn mentioning how the kittypet encountered a skunk when they went out into the forest earlier to find herbs or something; you know, one of those weird stinky creatures? And now the stench of it is stuck right to her fur!"

"So that's why it smells so awful, I guess... Is she alright?" Blackfrost immediately asked, unable to hide his initial concern despite the company he was in, and Foxtail shot a glare at him.

"Why do you care? It's not like the kittypet is in danger of dying again. And even then, what would it matter to you? ...Unless," her green eyes widened in mock pity, "she really is your only friend here? How sad."

" _Or_ maybe she's something more -"

Blackfrost suddenly got up and coldly shoved his way past the pair before Snakefang could finish that thought, forcing his focus on the fresh-kill pile at the other end of the clearing. He'd had enough of this nonsense already. "I-I _don't_ care, actually. Luna's not my _friend,_ or anything like that."

By this time, a number of their Clanmates had caught snatches of the growing argument between the three younger warriors, including Robinsong and the cats who had joined Blackfrost on patrol, and most were shooting curious glances at them from across camp without coming near enough to get too involved. Even Maplefur's kits had stopped playing to watch, their eyes wide and tails held high.

Snakefang snorted as Foxtail rolled her eyes disbelievingly, noting the falter in the black tom's mew of denial. "Could have fooled us… And the rest of the Clan, at that. You've been awfully friendly with that kittypet ever since you brought her here."

Foxtail nodded in agreement, her lurid eyes narrowed almost threateningly now. "Don't think we don't remember coming back from the Gathering to find you two all cozied up together in the warriors' den!"

"We weren't _cozied up;_ I told you already, she was just scared of the storm! And I - I've been taking care of her because she's _my_ responsibility," the black-furred warrior hissed in retort, turning his head to glare at the pair. In a heartbeat, Robinsong quickly stepped forward to comfort her foster brother, her amber eyes wide with sympathy or perhaps mere pity, but Blackfrost gently pushed her away. "It's my fault she's here, so I'm the one who has to deal with her!"

"Well, go be _responsible_ then and get her stinking pelt out of here!"

"She doesn't belong in ThunderClan!"

Ignoring the whispers from his Clanmates and the looks on their faces, Blackfrost angrily swiped a small finch from the pile of fresh-kill and glanced up to find, much to his shock and slight horror, that Luna herself had come out from the medicine den to investigate the commotion. The pale, fluffy kittypet was now sitting just at the edge of the clearing, half hidden in the shade of the ferns, her silvery eyes narrowed in a surprising amount of anger as she observed the Clan cats' heated conversation. How much had she heard?

"Glad to see you care so much about me," she finally mewed, the slightest icy edge to her tone as she steadily met his gaze. "Enough to... _deal_ with me. I suppose I'm just a burden on you, too."

"Wait, Luna – I didn't mean it like that..." Blackfrost stammered.

But Luna wasn't hearing it. Not this time.

Right now, she just needed to be left alone.

* * *

 **A/N: Okay, I know there hasn't been a skunk mentioned in the books (at least, not as far as I remember), and I like to try and stay as close to canon as I possibly can, but I just couldn't help myself with this. I realize it may have been a bit of a stretch, but I just could not seem to get the image of pretty, pampered little kittypet like Luna getting sprayed by a smelly skunk, haha. She complains about sleeping on moss and being cold and eating birds, so she'd definitely hate this more than all of those inconveniences combined.**

 **As for Luna's no-claws situation, they'll figure something out soon enough, but I really don't think she'd be cut out for hunting and fighting even if she _did_ still have her claws. Then again, she's already had to do things she'd never imagined doing before, so who knows what else she might have to do? Because you're right, hunting is definitely made more difficult but it's still possible, and as for the fighting, you'll see that eventually... Blackfrost did kind of overreact when he found out about Luna's claws because he had never heard of such a thing before, and wasn't expecting another obstacle to make teaching a kittypet even _more_ difficult. He just wasn't prepared for that. But maybe they'll figure something out after giving it a bit more thought.**

 **Anyway, the story should definitely start picking up from here when it comes to relations with the other Clans (we haven't seen anything of them yet!), more issues and misunderstandings with Luna and Blackfrost, and the usual leaf-bare problems. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, feel free to leave a review if you can! I hope to update soon. :)**

 **-CCM**


	16. Ch14: Resentment and Sympathy

CHAPTER 14

Blackfrost watched in stunned silence as the pale she-cat whipped around and strode back through the fern tunnel with one final lash of her tail, and he felt the smallest aching pull in his chest as her fluffy white pelt swiftly disappeared from sight. On one paw, he wasn't even sure why he cared a single mouse tail what any pampered little kittypet like Luna thought, but on the other, he couldn't help but feel guilty. They had just started actually getting along somewhat, in their own little way; but now, he had gone and unintentionally hurt her feelings, with words spat out in a fleeting moment of anger.

It seemed such a shame to throw it all away, that growing sense of acceptance they had toward each other. And now, only the strange, pungent scent of skunk mixed in with the sweetest trace of wild flowers remained where Luna had stood only moments prior.

Robinsong stepped up to him again, much more hesitantly this time, but Blackfrost didn't push her away. He hardly even noticed as she set the gentle tip of her tortoiseshell tail against his shoulder comfortingly, and was only vaguely aware of Snakefang and Foxtail both standing only a few rabbit-lengths behind them, silently watching; all he could think about was how he had messed up, yet again. Couldn't he do anything right?

In that moment, his feelings of resentment came rushing back at him in full force. Even now, after being raised in the Clans since his earliest days of kithood, he still occasionally felt like an outsider to ThunderClan. It was his home, his family, his whole life - everything he had ever known - and yet, he didn't share the same blood of a warrior that kept the rest of ThunderClan connected on the deepest level. He knew that was one thing he would always have in common with Luna, much to his discomfort.

And on top of that, he simply just wasn't very good at expressing his emotions – it seemed, more often than not, that he only drove other cats away with his own words. Everyone, from Clanmates to kittypets, apparently. Few cats truly knew the real Blackfrost... Sometimes he wasn't even sure that _he_ knew.

"So… Are you all quite done here?"

Blackfrost froze at the cold, commanding tone of the ThunderClan deputy as he asked his question with thinly veiled contempt. Hawktalon's striped face scrunched up in a look of faint disgust, most likely a reaction to the lingering scent of the kittypet's contaminated fur in the clearing. The broad, dark grey tabby glared at Blackfrost, and then his amber eyes settled on Snakefang with a slightly softer gaze. "You were starting to cause a bit of a scene. It was getting rather embarrassing, to say the least."

"We apologize, Hawktalon," Snakefang swiftly mewed to his father without a second thought, while Foxtail suddenly become particularly interested in the flicking of her own tail. "It won't happen again."

"…At least, so long as that kittypet doesn't get sprayed by the skunk a second time," he added under his breath after a short pause.

Hawktalon merely narrowed his eyes. "Good… I should think not. Not that I could blame you for growing annoyed, however," he muttered, somewhat darkly. "Honestly, even I can't always agree wholeheartedly with some of the decisions that Foreststar makes, particularly in regard to the _kittypet_ , though I wouldn't dare to defy them. The Clan leader's word is law, after all."

Blackfrost's ears pricked up in interest as he lowered his head to pick up the finch he had previously chosen from the fresh-kill pile, though he did his best to conceal it. The Clan deputy, openly suggesting that Foreststar had been wrong in allowing Luna to remain in ThunderClan? Hawktalon's distaste in the decision had been obvious from the very start, of course, and it seemed that many of their Clanmates agreed with him, but this was perhaps the first time Blackfrost had caught him outright declaring his opposition to the ThunderClan leader's treatment of the kittypet situation after the fact.

Sure, he himself hadn't been all that enthusiastic about Foreststar's decision either, mainly because it directly involved him helping care for the she-cat, but something in the deputy's tone made him wary. He fleetingly wondered whether Robinsong had noticed this, too, but her face was turned at an angle to him so that he couldn't read her expression.

"…What was the meaning of all this?"

Blackfrost flinched as his thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the deep, painfully familiar voice of the second tom, and he slowly turned to face Foreststar himself.

The Clan leader had an air of calm about him as he stepped toward them from his den beneath the Highrock, but his dark green eyes blazed with some silent emotion – anger, perhaps? Or disappointment? It was difficult to tell – and, strangely enough, they were trained solely on Blackfrost.

"Hawktalon and I overheard your argument – as did the rest of the Clan. I sent him along ahead of me to question you, but thought it best to address this issue with my own warning, as well." He shook his head, looking exasperated. "We cannot afford to have our own warriors getting into petty quarrels with each other, especially as leaf-bare is fast approaching and working together peacefully is of the utmost importance. I shouldn't even have to tell you this or explain why. And with your _littermate_ , no less? Blackfrost... I expect better from you."

Blackfrost shamefully lowered his gaze, his pelt prickling in discomfort. Something about the way Foreststar emphasized the word 'littermate' made him feel like he was being talked down to, patronized, as though he and Snakefang had been young kits reprimanded for a silly, immature argument between them.

Littermates, as though Blackfrost had actually been born in ThunderClan, and not just generously taken in as a rogue abandoned by his birth mother. And the last thing he wanted to do was disappoint his leader, his mentor, the very cat who had rescued him from the harsh forest and allowed him to experience the honorable life of a ThunderClan warrior.

"I'm sorry, Foreststar," Blackfrost meowed with full truthfulness, bowing his head in respect. Snakefang and Foxtail quickly followed suit; even they looked sheepish at being called out by the Clan leader himself. Hawktalon, meanwhile, sat tall and proud, flicking his tail in agreement with the large brown tom's words as though he hadn't just been talking less than favorably of the ThunderClan leader behind his back.

Foreststar nodded slowly, his attention still focused on Blackfrost, his former apprentice. "No matter, I suppose, just so long as it doesn't happen again, you three. I should not need to be treat my own warriors like mere apprentices. And don't let me see any of you harassing the she-cat, Luna, either. If I hear of this again, there _will_ be consequences."

He abruptly shook his head again, as though to rid these thoughts from his mind. "Now, there are more pressing matters to discuss at the moment. Go on, go back about your business."

Foreststar turned back to his deputy and, with a swift flick of his tail, beckoned him toward his den in the Highrock to talk more privately. Most of the other cats who had witnessed the argument in the clearing had already dispersed, courteous enough to realize that this scene was not intended as an issue for the entire Clan to discuss, and weren't paying them any attention now.

"Hawktalon, I must speak with you about the fox that Moletooth and his patrol scented on our territory… I think it would be best to officially announce the problem to the entire Clan tomorrow, once the sundown patrol has reported back and confirmed whether or not the fox is likely still nearby; there's no need to cause a panic over it tonight. I just want you to tell those warriors to be on guard more than ever, and if necessary, I'll organize another patrol afterward to track the fox and drive it away for good."

Hawktalon solemnly nodded, and Foreststar continued, "Oh, and if you wouldn't mind, could you please set an extra watch over the nursery through the night, just to be on the safe side? Just one extra warrior or two should do it."

Snakefang and Foxtail had each slinked off by now, not even pausing to give Blackfrost a second glance, and Robinsong had apparently disappeared as well, but the young black-furred warrior hadn't yet left his leader's side as he listened in on their hushed conversation.

"What about the skunk?" he interrupted despite himself, realizing too late that he had followed after the pair without being given permission to come along with them. Hawktalon shot a glare at the young warrior for his rudeness, both speaking over the Clan leader _and_ eavesdropping on the discussion with his deputy, but Foreststar didn't appear bothered by it one bit.

"Skunk?"

He seemed confused, so Hawktalon quickly filled him in before Blackfrost could speak up again, "Yes, Rosethorn and the kittypet encountered a skunk on our territory as well, just earlier today near Snakerocks. About the same time that Blackfrost here, and the rest of Moletooth's patrol, discovered the fox scent."

Foreststar paused in careful thought for a moment before replying. "...Well, that explains the smell."

"So what should we do about it?" Blackfrost pressed on, ignoring the deputy's piercing amber glare.

"The fox is a much bigger threat at the moment," Foreststar decided with an air of finality. "Skunks, as far as I recall, aren't known to be dangerous… I'll just ask the patrols to keep a lookout for anything suspicious around the area."

"Speaking of patrols," Hawktalon spoke up, his voice suspiciously sly, "Blackfrost, I want you on the sundown patrol with Stormbreeze, Flamepelt, and Treeshade."

Blackfrost simply stared at the dark-furred tom in faint disbelief. "…Why?"

The deputy shrugged. "You were on the patrol that found the fox in the first place… I figured we could use your familiarity with its scent and possible location to keep the patrol on alert."

Blackfrost narrowed his eyes in annoyance, itching to reply with a bitter retort but ultimately deciding against it. Foreststar was still listening, after all, and he didn't want to refuse a direct order from his deputy right in front of the ThunderClan leader himself; that would make him look even worse. And the request was innocent enough, he had to grudgingly admit.

Instead, he nodded slowly. "Fine, I understand."

He quickly mewed a hasty goodbye, as polite as he could muster, and stalked away, struggling to keep his angrily swishing tail from giving away his irritation at the deputy's demands.

Use his familiarity to keep the patrol alert… what an utter load of mouse dung. Any warrior worth his claws could identify the scent of a fox, and a full border patrol of more than capable senior warriors should be able to handle an encounter with one, if it came to that. And why had he been singled out over Moletooth or Sparrowflight, two much more experienced warriors who had also been on the original patrol with him? He knew he wasn't needed on this patrol, not right after he had just barely set foot in camp after his last one.

Blackfrost stopped to pick up the finch he had left in the grass, not wanting to waste perfectly good fresh-kill despite not feeling particularly hungry anymore. He was sure that this latest order from the deputy, albeit seemingly small, was just another way to punish him somehow, though StarClan only knew what for. He was trying his best, wasn't he? Couldn't he catch a break for once? He at least deserved a rest!

Sighing, he stalked off toward the shaded edge of the camp clearing with his feathery little meal, flopping down onto the ground dejectedly and prodding the small bird with one unenthusiastic forepaw, his appetite now almost completely evaporated. He briefly caught sight of Robinsong's tortoiseshell pelt again as he settled down, somewhere near the warriors' den now, but didn't bother to even acknowledge her.

The she-cat watched him for a few heartbeats, thinking. Then, after a moment's indecision, she shook her head and slowly approached him.

"...You alright?" she mewed timidly, a kind look in her amber eyes; they were the same color as her father Hawktalon's eyes, but the emotion behind them was much more sympathetic.

Though he knew she meant well, Blackfrost couldn't help but roll his eyes at her question, his tone dripping with pure sarcasm. "Just perfect. Haven't you noticed how everything has been going _exactly_ as planned for me lately?" He moodily flicked his tail. "Snakefang is rude to me for absolutely no reason like he's been since we were kits, Foxtail is possibly even less useful to have around than her namesake, Luna probably hates me even more now –"

"Why don't you go talk to her?" his foster sister interjected. "Luna, I mean. I'm sorry about what happened, and I know you didn't truly mean what you said about her… At least, I don't think you did."

"You saw her," Blackfrost muttered. "The look in her eyes? Trust me, it'd be better to leave her alone for now. She _hates_ me. Let Rosethorn deal with her if she needs someone to talk to. She's a medicine cat, isn't that part of the job or something?"

"…Well, I was thinking more about _you_ ," Robinsong admitted, refusing to meet his gaze. "I thought it might… I don't know, ease your conscience if you just apologized to her. I know you didn't intend to hurt her feelings like that, it was just a heat of the moment thing."

But Blackfrost shook his head, tearing a wing from his piece of fresh-kill with a little too much gusto. A small, inexplicable surge of anger rose up in him, but he quickly pushed it down. "How would _you_ know whether I meant it or not? You don't know everything that goes on in my mind, much as you might like to pretend you do."

Robinsong flinched slightly at his harsh words, though she covered it up well. "…I'm just trying to help. Perhaps _I'll_ talk to her, then."

"Oh, no you don't." Blackfrost glanced up at her. "I'm serious, just leave her be. And I couldn't talk to her now even if I wanted to, anyway; Hawktalon put me on the sundown patrol. I'm sure they'll be heading out soon enough." He nodded toward the gorse tunnel where Stormbreeze and Treeshade were talking, already prepared to leave as the gradually setting sun cast lengthening shadows over the ThunderClan camp clearing.

"Oh!" Robinsong seemed surprised at that, "But didn't you just get back from a patrol only a short time ago? You were on the last one..."

Blackfrost grumbled audibly. " _Exactly_."

"Well... just make sure you rest up afterward. I've been a little worried about you lately..." She frowned at her paws, looking slightly uncomfortable, as though she didn't fully know what she wanted to say. "We haven't really had a chance to talk much after all that's happened, not like we used to."

"…I've just had a lot on my mind lately, that's all."

"Well… I might talk to Luna anyway, or I might not." She narrowed her eyes at Blackfrost as though daring him to demand otherwise, and the tom was reminded of the tiniest, rare spark of fierceness that his sister had within her. "You can't tell me what to do, you know. But… I'll definitely say something to Snakefang. I don't understand why he's being so mean to you. "

Blackfrost sighed again. "You're acting like this is something _new_. I'm pretty sure he's hated me ever since he first laid eyes on me, all the way back in the nursery... We were supposed to be littermates, brothers, but he still acts like I'm just some... some trespassing, crowfood-eating rogue."

Robinsong shrugged and straightened up determinedly, giving the ruffled fur on her chest a quick lick to flatten it down. "Still worth a try. I'm his sister; he'll listen to me. And... all of this, it really isn't your fault, Blackfrost. I truly think you did the right thing, helping Luna when the dog attacked her, and bringing her back to camp when she was injured and alone. Compassion isn't a trait to scorn at, much as some warriors would like to believe. Please, try not to be so hard on yourself."

She trotted away, leaving the young dark tom with only his own thoughts and the remains of his meal, pondering what she had told him. Slowly, without enthusiasm, he stood up and stretched, nodding to the orange tabby warrior Flamepelt as he did so. He didn't yet have a chance to mull over Robinsong's advice; now, it was time for yet another patrol.

* * *

Back in the medicine cat's den, the pale white kittypet sat dejectedly in her freshly-changed bed of moss, her head resting on her front paws as though she were too tried to even lift it.

Rosethorn narrowed her eyes at the fluffy she-cat, somewhat concerned. "…Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Luna muttered shortly, closing her eyes, "A bit tired, but just great, really."

The tortoiseshell medicine cat snorted and turned away. "Well, you sure as Silverpelt don't look it."

The kittypet certainly did look tired, but undoubtedly, there was more to her sour mood than a simple lack of sleep. And Rosethorn didn't have to be a medicine cat to figure that one out.

Luna grumbled audibly at that, but didn't say anything else, merely turned in her nest to stare at the wall of ferns lining the clearing instead.

Rosethorn's ears pricked up to listen as the she-cat shuffled around in the moss, but still didn't glance over at her. "If the skunk smell is still bothering you, we could try using the lavender again in a little bit. That one seemed to have the greatest effect on neutralizing the odor."

"'Kay."

Yes, the smell was bothering Luna, and she was even more bothered by the way the other wild cats reacted when they were around her ever she and Rosethorn had come back to camp after the incident, as though she had a terrible disease or something that they might catch if they got too close. If she thought the Clan cats already avoided her enough as is, being a 'kittypet' and all, they seemed to be purposely ignoring her twice as much now. Which she couldn't fully blame them for, as the smell _was_ truly awful, but she still had _feelings_.

But no, what bothered Luna the most was hearing what Blackfrost said about her... Honestly, she didn't even understand why it had bugged her so much, when he expressed his anger at having to _deal_ with her – wasn't it obvious right from the start that he didn't like her? Probably not even a little bit? So why did her heart feel so heavy at his words now? What did it _matter_ what he thought of her, anyway? The warrior did kind of have a point - they weren't ever really _friends_ , were they?

Maybe she truly was just a burden, on Blackfrost and on everyone else in ThunderClan... And it seemed that her outing with Rosethorn into the forest earlier had only reaffirmed that idea.

Regardless of her current sentiments, however, there was no way that Luna was going to admit what she was feeling to Rosethorn. She had embarrassed herself in front of the medicine cat quite enough already.

Sighing, Luna flipped onto her back and opened her eyes, gazing the tiny specks of stars that could just be spotted high above the tall arching ferns and bare tree branches that curled over her head, acting as a sort of imperfect, makeshift roof. Wishing that this strange mix of emotions welling up inside her would all just go away, and leave her feeling empty and unaffected for once. Worry-free, like she used to be back with her housefolk... wherever they might be now.

* * *

 **A/N: So, I've been rereading the entire Warriors series as I've been writing this story, to refresh my memory of Clan customs, territories,ways of speaking, etc. I'm currently on The New Prophecy series, and it's actually making me really sad because I've just realized how much I miss the old forest territories. I mean, the lake territories are pretty darn cool and I do love the idea of moving there, but the forest is so nostalgic for me - I liked how the Twolegplace had been built nearby, and it was also nice how their Gathering place, Fourtrees, was right in the middle of all their territories. It's surprisingly depressing reading about all that being destroyed.**

 **Anyway,** **sorry this update took quite a bit longer than expected - I suddenly had some issues uploading new documents to FanFiction, which was weird as I've been here for years and never had a problem before, but I've got it all figured out now. Plus, I wasn't sure if I even wanted to include this chapter in the fic, as it was a little short and** **uneventful, but I was in a bit of a rut and just wanted to get something out. It kind of just feels like filler to me, but oh well. Next update should be out relatively soon - I already have most of that written, too, along with the new chapters for a couple of other fanfics I've been working on. Thanks for reading this far!**

 **-CCM**


	17. Ch15: Foxes and Injury

CHAPTER 15

Blackfrost awoke the next sunrise to bright midday sunlight filtering in through the branches of the warriors' den onto his dark pelt, leftover feelings of guilt from the previous evening still clawing at his belly. The argument from the night before, combined with a particularly long and mostly uneventful patrol though the cold, dark territory while on high alert for any sign of foxes, had left him feeling exhausted even after he stirred from the few hours of deep sleep he had managed afterward.

The black-furred warrior groaned as he rolled from his nest with little enthusiasm, blinking sleep from his forest green eyes. Should he go and apologize to Luna yet, or was it still too soon to talk to her? ...Or perhaps he should just give up on trying to work with her at all?

At least he was saved from having to consider his options any further by the deep, booming call to attention of the ThunderClan leader.

"May all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!"

Giving his pelt a quick lick so as to make sure he didn't look _too_ sleep deprived, Blackfrost slowly picked his way out of the warriors' den to sit near the elders Owlface, Ivywhisker, and Stumptail gathered to one side of the clearing, as far away from Snakefang or Foxtail as he could get - or from Luna, who was sitting half-hidden in the shade of the fern tunnel as she usually did, right beside Rosethorn and also Robinsong, surprisingly enough. None of them looked his way.

Catching sight of them together, Blackfrost wondered briefly whether his foster sister had chosen to talk with the kittypet after all, despite his warning not to, but at this point, he no longer cared that much either way. Actually, he probably preferred seeing Robinsong talk to her rather than to Snakefang, like she said she would; Blackfrost didn't know whether she had gone through with that conversation, either, but he seriously doubted that anything she said to the arrogant grey tomcat would do a single thing to change his attitude toward his adopted brother whatsoever, sister or not. He was a warrior, he didn't need nor want Robinsong to fight his battles for him.

At the center of the gathered mass of ThunderClan cats, Foreststar was perched regally at the top of the Highrock as usual, his tail folded neatly over his large paws, and deputy Hawktalon sat just beneath him on the ground, a look of smugness about him.

"As I was informed by Moletooth last evening," Foreststar began, and all of ThunderClan quickly quieted down to listen, the low background murmur of conversation ceasing, "and, as many of you may have already found out by now, his border patrol caught scent of a fox on our territory, not far down the ravine, in fact."

A few cats in the gathered crowd gasped, and the brown-furred queen Maplefur immediately shot up and ran back to the nursery where her kits were still nestled while she had gone to listen in on Foreststar's announcement, as though terrified they would be snatched away as soon as she turned her back on them.

"I would like to now send out a patrol to track the fox down and drive it off our territory," the leader continued after the short ripple of shock that passed through the crowd had died down, "and preferably, out of the entire forest for good. Now, while we have the advantage of daylight, and before the first snowfall of leaf-bare has any chance to overwhelm us."

Blackfrost glanced up at the sky at these words – true enough, great grey clouds had already begun to roll in far off along the distant edge of the treetops, the kind that usually signaled a coming snowfall. And with the snow of leaf-bare, every warrior in the forest knew, could only come the bitter, freezing cold that raised the threat of possible deadly greencough outbreak, and could kill off both prey and cats alike.

"Stormbreeze, did your cats find any trace of the fox on the sundown patrol?"

Stormbreeze, of course, had already reported their news back to Foreststar much earlier that morning, well before the sun had risen - Blackfrost was already aware of that himself, considering he had actually been on that patrol, thanks to Hawktalon - but the silvery-grey warrior repeated his findings in front of the entire Clan without hesitation. "We did catch a strong scent of fox just a little further up the ravine, in the direction of the Thunderpath along ShadowClan's border, but much too close to camp for comfort. It seemed relatively fresh, too, perhaps only a day old."

The ThunderClan leader nodded resolutely at his words, and Blackfrost watched as Foreststar then turned his head to look directly at him. The dark-furred young warrior felt his pelt stiffen uncomfortably under his former mentor's brilliant emerald gaze.

"...Blackfrost, I want you lead the patrol. As Hawktalon noted yesterday, you were on the patrol that scented the fox in the first place, so you should know where best to look for it." He paused in thought for a moment, scanning the crowd. "Take Mistydawn, Mosspelt, Rowanfur, and Dustypaw with you. As for you, Stormbreeze, you and at least one other warrior should stay here in camp until the situation is resolved, just in case. It's better to be safe than sorry."

Blackfrost pricked his ears in surprise at being chosen - not just to be on the patrol, but to _lead_ it - but didn't say anything as he slowly nodded. This could be another chance for him to prove himself... That is, so long as he didn't mess up again.

Foreststar then turned toward one of his seniormost warriors. "And Treeshade, you lead a hunting party. We could certainly use more fresh-kill. Take whichever cats with you that are willing."

The large dark grey tom nodded and quickly pulled over Lightningstripe, Raincloud, and Grasspaw with a quick nod of his head.

His announcements over, Foreststar signaled that the meeting was ended with a wave of his tail, and leapt down from the Highrock as the assembled cats began to disperse, some still looking a little nervous.

 _Oh, that's right_ … Blackfrost turned to gather up the chosen cats for his patrol, but found that they were all already waiting patiently behind him, waiting for his command to move forward. The young black tom gulped.

"Um… Well, we should probably head out now…?"

"I figured that this could be a good leadership experience for you, Blackfrost," Foreststar spoke up quietly as he stepped up behind him. "Don't worry, you only have to lead them toward the spot along the ravine where you had scented the fox earlier, and then together you all can decide what to do once you get there, if you can manage to find and follow its scent trail again."

Blackfrost nodded; at least the cats that Foreststar had chosen to join him on patrol were some of the most patient, respectful warriors in the Clan.

"Let's set out," Blackfrost announced much more confidently, while Foreststar nodded to them, "I'll lead the way up the ravine."

"Sounds like a plan," the reddish-brown tom Rowanfur meowed pleasantly, and gestured with a flick of his tail for Blackfrost to go on ahead. Mosspelt waited beside him, an apprehensive look in the dark brown tom's pale eyes, whereas the silvery-blue she-cat Mistydawn appeared much more confident, her expression one of pure determination. Rowanfur's apprentice, the lithe tortoiseshell Dustypaw, sheathed and unsheathed her claws against the ground in anticipation, unintentionally tearing up the grass underneath her paws.

Turning away, Blackfrost had just been about to push his way through the gorse tunnel out of camp when he heard a sudden familiar shout from behind them, and felt a strange flutter in his stomach at the soft feminine voice.

"Oh, please be careful out there!" Luna called out, ignoring the glares she received from more than a few Clan cats. Robinsong instinctively stepped closer to her, as though it would help fend off their unwelcoming gazes, but for once, Luna hardly seemed fazed.

Looking back on her most recent experiences, Luna now realized just how dangerous the forest really was. Poisonous berries, venomous snakes, _skunks_ – truthfully, she didn't quite know what a fox was, but she didn't particularly wish to find out. She knew enough to understand that it wasn't anything good.

She wasn't all too happy with Blackfrost right now, admittedly, and most of the other warrior cats seemed to either just shun her completely or shoot her the occasional condescending glare (excluding Robinsong and the medicine cat), but that still didn't mean she wanted any of them to get hurt, or worse. And her emotions had settled down considerably after a good night's sleep. Well, as good a sleep as she could manage out here in the forest.

Blackfrost sighed under his breath, forcing himself not to glance back at the kittypet as he marched out determinedly. "I'll try."

* * *

"I have something to ask of you, Luna," Rosethorn announced straightforwardly to the pale she-cat seated beside her. Luna half-wondered whether the medicine cat was merely attempting to distract her – after all, she hadn't proved to be much of a help with anything so far, more of a nuisance, really. And, as the patrol that had set off to drive away the fox still hadn't come back yet as the sun disappeared behind thickening clouds, it seemed that she couldn't hold down her uneasiness as she wondered what may have happened to them, anxiously pacing the medicine clearing until it practically drove Rosethorn nuts.

The other tortoiseshell ThunderClan she-cat (and still one of the only wild cats that Luna knew personally), Robinsong, had come to talk to her in the medicine den much earlier that morning, well before the light of the rising sun could be seen over the treetops. Robinsong didn't really say a lot; just wanted to let her know about some things her brother Blackfrost was going through, without going into too much detail, and not to judge him by this one outburst too harshly.

Luna was still mad at him, of course, but sweet, gentle Robinsong sure did have a way of convincing her to soften up on him a bit. She would still be too annoyed to even look at him without this little nudge of forgiveness from Robinsong, wouldn't she?

"I need to check up on the elders again and see if my poultice has worked well enough to ease their aching joints, so perhaps you could come with me." Rosethorn eyed the kittypet, perhaps wondering whether she was truly listening; she looked somewhat dazed, perhaps lost in thought. "I know most of them don't –"

A sudden yowl of pain rang throughout the ThunderClan camp clearing, and Luna sat bolt upright in her nest, exchanging a terse glance with Rosethorn. Clan cat or kittypet, there was no mistaking the sound of a cat in pain. Luna had heard such noises herself, in fact, on the rare occasion that a couple of stray alley cats would get into a fight just outside her home, but any memory of the house she had once shared with her housefolk was much too painful for her to bear at the moment.

Rosethorn disappeared through the fern tunnel in a flash, and as she quickly followed the medicine cat out into the clearing, Luna couldn't help but feel the smallest, inexplicable twinge of relief that the wailing had been much too high-pitched and female for the voice to belong to Blackfrost. But that relief was very short-lived.

"It's okay, Dustypaw. You'll be fine!" A large silvery-blue she-cat was meowing gently to another young cat who was crouched on the ground, obviously in some state of distress. A mix of faces that she both did and didn't recognize – all the assorted cats who had gone on patrol with Blackfrost to chase off the fox, as well as the hunting patrol and a smattering of young apprentices – stood around them at a respectable distance, expressing concerned looks. Blackfrost himself was there, too, a a thin scratch mark along one flank that hadn't been there before he left, but otherwise he looked perfectly fine.

Luna took a closer look at the little she-cat crying out in the middle of the surrounding cats, and then instantly regretted it as a jolt of pure, horrified shock ran through her chest. There was no mistaking it - the young cat's face was splattered with deep red blood. More than Luna had ever seen in her entire life.

"Ugh, it still hurts," the dark tortoiseshell apprentice moaned. "And the blood… I can't see!"

"Step back, all of you," Rosethorn ordered loudly with an air of authority, and the gathered cats immediately backed away from the fallen apprentice, heeding her command. "What happened?"

"We found the fox on ThunderClan territory, but it didn't go down without a good fight," Rowanfur, the young cat's mentor who had been out on the patrol with her, quickly explained in a forcibly calm mew. "That's all taken care of now, but during the battle, the fox swiped at her head and left a gash right across her face. There's so much blood, though, I couldn't tell exactly where its claws hit, or how bad the damage is."

"Whoa…" Over by the nursery, Flamepelt and Maplefur's kits peered around their mother to observe the scene playing out in the clearing before them, squealing in excitement. "Is she _dying_?"

"Hush, Gingerkit," Maplefur scolded gently. "No, she isn't dying. Don't say such awful things."

"What's wrong with her? Will she be all right?" Luna fretted, unable to keep her paws still as she flitted back and forth between the injured apprentice and the medicine cat. The sense of panic in her chest was rising, and rapidly.

Rosethorn shot her a brief glance with a slight frown. "Stay back, Luna."

Luna froze in place, averting her eyes; the sight of all that blood was beginning to make her feel nauseous.

"Where does it hurt?" the tortoiseshell medicine cat turned back to ask the apprentice, her usual domineering tone falling back to a much more comforting, sympathetic one. Dustypaw shook her head, accidentally sending droplets of blood flying over the grass.

"I-It's my face, right up to my ear," Dustypaw explained shakily, her eyes squeezed shut to keep out all the blood that was still dripping steadily down her face. "I think my eyes are fine, but I still can't see. It just won't stop bleeding!"

Rosethorn looked around, eyeing up the other apprentices gathered around their friend and pointing a paw at two of them, Stonepaw and Grasspaw. "You two – see if you can collect some cobwebs from among the brambles in the camp wall for me. And Luna –"

She whipped around, facing the pale she-cat head on, "I need some marigold to make a poultice. It's in my den in the crack in the rock, the yellow flowers with thin petals directly to the left - just _don't_ mess up anything in there, please; I have it all sorted so neatly. Could you do that for me?"

"I-I guess so," Luna stammered, taken aback at being called out to help directly. How could Rosethorn trust her with herbs, after all that had happened the day before? She didn't even trust herself!

Regardless, she darted back toward the medicine cat den as fast as her short little legs would carry her, hoping with all her might that she wouldn't mess this up... Dustypaw had been bleeding pretty heavily, and she had been too nervous to get a more detailed look at the poor she-cat's face; what if the injury really was as severe as she feared? If she didn't get the herbs to Rosethorn quickly enough, or picked out the wrong ones, the little cat might die!

That thought kept Luna focused on the task at paw. She didn't think she could bear it if anything so terrible happened to Dustypaw, even if she was a wild cat who was probably accustomed to these sorts of things. She pelted into the crack in the rock in the medicine cat clearing, and was immediately met with the sharp, tangy scent of herbs that practically smacked her in the face. Her eyes searching the rocky shelves of leaves and stems frantically, she quickly located a bunch of yellow flowers like Rosethorn had described just inside the den's entrance. Without thinking, she gently pulled a couple from the bundle with her teeth, careful not to ruin the plants by biting down too hard to rip their petals or draw juice.

Rosethorn gave an approving purr as Luna returned and set the yellow flowers at her feet. She had found the correct herbs after all. Without saying a word, the medicine cat immediately began to chew up the plant's leaves and petals and mix them together into a quick poultice.

"Hold still, Dustypaw."

Dustypaw obediently tilted her bleeding ear toward the medicine cat, and Rosethorn continued to lick away the excess blood with her raspy tongue to clean the wound before pressing down with her wad of cobwebs to stem the bleeding as best she could. Luna watched her work with a strange sense of morbid fascination; she had never seen so much blood before in her life. It reminded her of when the medicine cat had treated her after her encounter with Blackfrost and the dog... That all seemed so long ago.

As she watched the tortoiseshell she-cat swiftly and diligently work on her patient, as effortless as though she had already been though the process a hundred times before, Luna suddenly found herself filled with a newfound appreciation for the duties of the medicine cat. Once more, she again realized that these wild cats weren't nearly as barbaric as she might have once thought; in fact, while they lived harsh and sometimes unforgiving lives, they weren't barbaric at all, just _different_. Luna had never heard of cats working together like this and using herbal medicines to treat each other – easing pain and aching joints alike, healing wounds...

"So, what does this do?" Luna asked inquisitively, gesturing to the mushed up plants that no longer resembled plants anymore.

The medicine cat looked vaguely surprised at her question, as though she didn't expect a cat like Luna to even care about such things, but happily answered her all the same. "Well, I used this same poultice on you when you were attacked by that loose dog, remember? The marigold is used to stave off any possible infection in the wound; preventing an infection by treating it with this or goldenrod as soon as possible is a bit easier than dealing with a full-blown infection after the fact."

As she spoke, Rosethorn gently rubbed some of her marigold poultice into the fur of the apprentice's face, who winced slightly as the healing juices seeped into her wound but didn't say anything else.

"Will she be okay?" Luna asked quietly.

"She should be, if I can help it; trust me, this is a relatively minor injury in the big scheme of things. Let's see…" After a few moments to allow more of the poultice's juices to settle in, Rosethorn finally pulled the small mass of cobwebs and herbs away from Dustypaw's face to more accurately check the extent of the injury.

The other apprentices quickly gathered around to see the damage their friend had sustained. Their eyes widened as they caught sight of the wound, and Dustypaw nervously flinched backward at their reaction. "What's wrong?"

"Your ear!" Grasspaw finally squealed at her sister, "It's…"

"It's _what_?"

Dustypaw whipped around, searching for a puddle of water to check her reflection in, but drew back and sighed as she realized there was none around.

Wrenpaw shot the tortoiseshell apprentice an odd wide-eyed look in silence, and Stonepaw managed to stammer out something unintelligible, unwilling to tell his sister what had happened to her without knowing how she would take the news.

Dustypaw glowered at them, her voice rising as she demanded to know what they were all going on about. "What's wrong with my ear?"

"Well… Let's just say, you and Hawktalon are practically _twins_ now," Acornpaw joked, raising a paw to his own perfectly-intact ear. "There's a _huge_ rip right through it! I'm surprised it's even still hanging on, honestly. Don't worry, though, you're still _much_ prettier than Hawktalon."

He let out an amused _mrrow._ "Hey, maybe you two c-"

The brown tabby apprentice was immediately buffeted by a large grey paw that whacked him over the head, and the deputy in question appeared behind them, scrutinizing amber eyes narrowed in a condescending sort of amusement as he eyed the startled group of young ThunderClan cats.

"What was it you were saying about me?"

"Oh! N-nothing! Nothing at all!" Wrenpaw stammered nervously, backing up until she bumped straight into Stonepaw behind her.

Hawktalon glared at her harshly – if looks could kill, the little brown apprentice might as well be dead. Luna, however, he treated as though she weren't even there, not bothering to acknowledge her presence among the apprentices one bit.

Luna couldn't help but notice the huge, jagged tear that ran through his left ear.

"Well then, stop sitting around _gossiping_ about your elders, and maybe start actually _doing_ something for them. Dustypaw is fine; our medicine cat has seen to that." He nodded pleasantly to the experienced tortoisehell she-cat as he spoke. "Speaking of which, thank you, Rosethorn."

Rosethorn nodded back at him, not saying a word throughout the entire exchange so that Luna couldn't tell what she was thinking, and Hawktalon stalked away, muttering under his breath. "Immaturity. It feels like this Clan is being overrun by kits. Kits and _kittypets_."

He returned to the area below the Highrock where Foreststar was now seated, most likely drawn out of his den by all the commotion in the clearing. The ThunderClan leader was engaged in deep and serious conversation with Blackfrost, Mistydawn, Mosspelt, and Rowanfur as they explained to him the specifics of what had happened on their outing.

Dustypaw whimpered slightly as she watched the deputy retreat. "Does my ear really look _that_ bad?"

Acornpaw shrugged noncommittally as he glanced at the she-cat apprentice's face again, soon-to-be scars from the fox's claws running from her badly ripped ear down the side of her face, just missing her eye. "Hey, at least you still _have_ your ear. Most of it, anyway. Or else Foreststar would have to rename you _No-ear_!"

He was quickly shushed by a sharp shove from Stonepaw that sent him sprawling into the grass, and Rosethorn audibly snorted in amusement as she reapplied the bandage to the concerned apprentice's torn ear and face. "Don't worry, Dustypaw, you'll look just fine. Just leave this be for now, don't go scratching at it or pulling it off or anything like that. Your wound just needs to heal a bit longer; come back to me if it starts to bother you any more, and I can give you a few poppy seeds if the pain gets worse."

Dustypaw nodded solemnly at the medicine cat's words. "It should be fine now, I was just a bit shocked at the time..."

Luna watched the apprentices banter among themselves curiously, still distracted by what she had noticed about the enormous ThunderClan deputy. "How did Hawktalon get a big nick in his ear like that?"

They all jumped and then turned toward her in surprise, as though they hadn't expected the kittypet to ever start talking to them out of the blue and ask questions. Luna doubted that any of these young cats had ever even _seen_ a housecat before she had set foot in their camp, much less spoken to one.

Acornpaw exchanged a glance with his sister, Wrenpaw, and then shrugged. "Nobody knows, really. Except him, of course, but he's sure not telling. And I'm not asking! He'd probably just whack me over the head again for my impudence, or something."

Wrenpaw nodded, her eyes darting around to check that the coast was all clear before adding in a solemn whisper, "Hawktalon _hates_ apprentices."

The sturdy grey tom, Stonepaw, however, seemed to hesitatingly disagree. "Oh, come on, he's not _that_ bad... In fact, I didn't think he paid the apprentices any notice, just kind of ignores us all. Except you, apparently." He snorted. "Maybe it's because you're so annoying, Acornpaw."

"Hey, I'll get you for that!" Acornpaw shouted, growling at his grey-furred friend playfully, and then he leapt at him in a flurry of fur and sheathed claws. Purring now, her worries forgotten, Wrenpaw quickly joined the fray while the bandaged-up Dustypaw trotted off with Grasspaw to go show her concerned mentor Rowanfur how she was feeling.

Turning away from the apprentices, Rosethorn nodded her head at the pale kittypet in a rare show of appreciation. "I have to say, you did very well today, Luna; went right ahead and fetched the marigold just as I had asked, almost like a medicine cat apprentice! Making up for your objectively subpar performance yesterday, eh?"

Luna shrugged, embarrassed.

Rosethorn let out a soft _mrrow_ of amusement. "You know, after all this excitement, we never did get a chance to check up on the elders yet... Think you could help me out with that, too?"

Luna nodded quickly, glancing back at the ThunderClan apprentices one last time before trailing Rosethorn back into the medicine cat den to collect the needed herbs, a newfound feeling of curiosity sparking somewhere within her. She had to find out exactly how that marigold poultice worked.

Just before she entered the shade of the fern tunnel, Luna felt her the fur along her spine prickle. She glanced over her shoulder again and noticed that Blackfrost was still sitting in the camp clearing nearby, now accompanied by his sister, Robinsong. He looked up in her direction as she watched him, but this time, she didn't turn away as soon as she met his piercing green gaze. Instead, she slowly nodded at him and turned to follow Rosethorn into the shadows, and felt his eyes on her pelt the entire way.

* * *

 **A/N: Hawktalon** _ **really**_ **doesn't like apprentices – particularly Acornpaw and Wrenpaw, to be exact. What's his problem? And what did you think of the ThunderClan apprentices in this chapter - which one is your favorite?**

 **Also, it looks like Luna might have a bit of interest in herbal remedies after all… She's already seen how it helps cats and has gained a newfound respect for Rosethorn's duties. Though I did find it funny how horrified she was by the mere sight of blood, especially since Dustypaw's injury really wasn't all that serious compared to a lot of warrior cat wounds – it's not like she went blind or broke her leg or lost half her face or anything.**

 **P.S. - I'm _so_ sorry I took this long with the update! I know the wait wasn't anything _too_ crazy, but I'm still way behind schedule with this fic, so I'm just a little frustrated with myself over it; I wanted to try and finish this story by the end of summer so I can get started on the sequel, but I'm only halfway finished sooo I don't think that'll be happening anytime soon, haha. But hopefully this kind-of long chapter makes up for it somewhat - remember, r** **eviews keep a fanfic writer focused! ;)**

 **-CCM**


	18. Ch16: Snowfall and Apology

CHAPTER 16

Blackfrost awoke early the next sunrise to an unusually strong chill that seemed to cut right through his sleek, dark pelt. Fur prickling at this cold breeze that had presumably woke him up, he sluggishly opened his eyes, took one look outside the warriors' den, and immediately groaned at what lay just beyond the entrance.

It was snowing, icy white flakes swirling swiftly toward the ground from the grey cloud-covered sky, the grass below already dusted with a thin layer of cold crystalline frost. And that could only mean one thing...

Leaf-bare had come.

Blackfrost reluctantly pushed out of his warm moss-lined nest and stepped over the bodies of his still-sleeping Clanmates until he thrust his way out into the open, blinking heavily in the blindingly bright whiteness that met his eyes. Soon enough, if it continued to snow at this rate, the empty ThunderClan camp would be barely recognizable from how it had looked only sunrises ago.

And there, right in his line of sight, Luna emerged from the medicine cat den and paused just outside the fern tunnel where she was somewhat protected from the chilly breeze, her snowy white pelt nearly blending right in with the weather. A strange, unreadable expression crossed her face as their eyes momentarily met.

The plan he had rehearsed over and over in his mind the night before was still fresh in his head, and seeing her just now was yet another reminder. Yes, that plan... Much as he dreaded it, there was no turning back now; not when she was right in front of him, as though StarClan themselves willed it. He had thought through every last possible detail until he just about gave himself a headache, but still he had to wonder - would it be enough?

Hoping with all his might that he wasn't making a huge mistake by doing this, Blackfrost quickly turned away to fetch the two plump mice that were left on the fresh-kill pile, not yet frozen by the first leaf-bare chill – he knew that mice had always been Luna's favorite prey – and carried them over to where the kittypet was stiffly seated watching him, dropping the slightly fatter one at her feet.

She glanced down at the mouse that suddenly lay between her paws, then raised her head and again met the dark warrior's gaze. "Thanks," she mumbled.

Blackfrost nodded, feeling an odd flutter of nerves deep within his chest. The two very different cats ate together in silence, and remained unspeaking for many moments after finishing their meal.

Luna was the first to speak up again, which helped to ease the awkward tension that Blackfrost felt in the air between them. "Now, what was it that you really wanted with me? I can tell you didn't come over here just to feed me - I could easily have done that on my own."

Blackfrost sighed, almost apologetically. "I was just wondering if you wanted, er, if you would be willing to go out into the forest with me? Right now, just real quick; I need to talk with you. There's... something I should probably say."

Luna seemed surprised at that notion, and his unexpected willingness to make amends, but she nodded back at him regardless. "That should be fine; Rosethorn is still asleep."

The kittypet daintily buried the remains of her meal in the earth and looked back up at the snow-filled sky, that strange emotion returning to her expression as she followed Blackfrost toward the gorse tunnel out of camp. Distracted, she suddenly came to an abrupt stop and gestured for the black-furred warrior to do the same.

"...What _is_ all this?"

Blackfrost shot her an incredulous look. "...You mean, you've never seen snow before?"

Luna shook her head, her icy blue eyes wide as she stared upward beyond the treetops, a sense of wonder in them as she watched the tiny white flakes that fell around them, slowly, gently. "Oh... Well, I know what snow _is_ ," she added hastily, turning back to face him, "I've seen it before, I believe, when I was only a kitten, falling outside the window and piling up in the yard, but it all seems so long ago... And I've never seen it up close like this."

She swatted her forepaw at one of the larger flakes that floated toward her, then quickly shrunk back in surprise. "It's so _cold_!"

Blackfrost stifled an amused snort and looked up to watch the snow fall with her. She was acting like a young kit, experiencing a snowfall for the first time... Though she was like a kit in more ways than one, he supposed.

He could remember his own first time seeing snow, back in the nursery all those moons ago, and the amazement he felt as he and Robinkit and Snakekit stared up at the grey leaf-bare sky with wide eyes and prodded the frozen snowflakes that had already grounded with inquisitive paws, reeling backward when the icy cold met their sensitive paw pads and then tumbling right back into it, leaping and meowing in amusement as they rolled about in the freshly fallen snow.

"Come on," Blackfrost meowed sternly, though he couldn't help flicking his tail at her good-naturedly, "Let's go, before Hawktalon sees me out here and tries to put me on yet another patrol." There were no other cats in the clearing at the moment, which Blackfrost was somewhat relieved by – he still didn't particularly want to be seen with the kittypet by any of his Clanmates, especially alone.

Blackfrost led the way out into the icy forest, the cats' pawsteps echoing in the almost unnatural silence that leaf-bare often brings, the snowfall muffling every sound and the chill driving prey back into their burrows to stay warm. Neither of them spoke to each other for a while – Luna didn't even ask where he was taking her, though he did have a specific place in mind. He had thought this all out very clearly the night before, after all.

The young warrior couldn't help but notice just how inexperienced Luna really was, even at something so simple as walking through the forest. Even a ThunderClan apprentice knew how to step lightly on his paws, moving swiftly and silently through the undergrowth virtually undetected, for the most part, even when not stalking prey. But Luna - though she was trying her best to be quiet too - her pawsteps fell heavily and seemed to crack every stray twig and dried-to-crunchy leaf beneath their feet, and she stumbled clumsily through the thick expanse of plants and tangled roots lining the forest floor.

"So… did Rosethorn manage to get most of that skunk scent out of your fur?" Blackfrost awkwardly broke the silence, and then cringed at his own straightforwardness. After all the embarrassment and hard feelings that incident had caused her, it was probably the last thing the kittypet wanted him to bring up.

But to his surprise, Luna merely let out a soft _mrrow_ of laughter. "Well, I think she got most of it out, at least... Trust me, you would be able to tell if she hadn't."

They walked along without speaking for another few moments before Luna finally asked, "How did your battle with the fox go? I… um, well, I hadn't gotten a chance to hear about it yesterday, you know..."

Blackfrost shrugged modestly. "It… It went well, actually. I led the way, following its scent trail, but Mistydawn was the one who found the actual fox. That bigger silvery-blue she-cat? We all sort of ganged up on it then, and it must have gotten freaked out by so many cats coming at it all at once, because it growled and jumped right at me. Got a pretty good scratch from it along my flank, but I sure didn't give it an easy time, and then Rowanfur's apprentice, Dustypaw, leapt at it to try and help me out – you saw what happened to her. The fox gave up fighting me and turned on her, tackling her and slashing her in the face, but then Rowanfur knocked it away real quick to help her, and Mistydawn and Mosspelt chased it up the ravine, nipping at its heels the entire way. They came back and said it looked so scared as it fled toward the Thunderpath, that it probably won't ever try and settle on cats' territory again."

Luna listened to Blackfrost's story about the fox intently, her eyes wide. "That must have been terrifying!"

This time, it was his turn to laugh. "Trust me, that little skirmish was _nothing_ compared to some of the fights our cats have been in. A badger on our territory would have been even worse, especially if it had cubs with it. And, of course, there are the full-fledged battles with the other Clans themselves."

Luna's expression turned thoughtful, and a little uncertain. "...But, to be completely honest, I don't understand..."

"Understand what?" Blackfrost pressed.

"...Why do the Clans fight?" she finally asked in an incredibly naive, kittypet-like fashion. "Wouldn't it be better to all just get along?"

"Well, there are times of peace between the Clans, of course..." the warrior attempted to explain. "Not just including the Gatherings. But sometimes, battle is inevitable. It's what warriors do, to protect our cats and our territory, what is rightfully ours. Negotiations don't always work."

Blackfrost could tell that Luna obviously didn't understand, but that was to be expected, really; she wouldn't know what being a warrior truly meant. She wouldn't have had to fight a day in her life.

But that still didn't mean she was entirely useless...

"I, um, kind of noticed what you did yesterday."

"Huh?" She turned to face him, confused, and he hastily explained.

"With Dustypaw... Helping Rosethorn with the herbs like that. I, er, couldn't help but notice."

Luna nodded in response, a look of surprise on her face. He had tried to make his comment sound more like a compliment, but Blackfrost couldn't help but feel... _funny_ at the idea of Luna helping out the medicine cat like that. There was just something about it that bothered him greatly, despite his pride in knowing that the kittypet could actually make herself useful to the Clan, though he couldn't quite put his paw on exactly what. Before he could give it any further thought, however, he found that they had made it to the very spot he had planned on.

Blackfrost quickly cleared his throat to speak before Luna could question him further. The sound of rushing water met their ears as they came to an area where the forest opened up into what looked like another large clearing, the vast grey sky easily visible above them.

"This place is called Sunningrocks," Blackfrost explained as he led her out from the line of trees, gesturing toward the large, flat expanse of rock that bordered the swiftly flowing river ahead of them. The snow had lightened up a bit by now, allowing a sliver of sunlight to shine through the thick stormclouds above and settle on the cold grey rock. "It might not look like all that much right now, but it's one of the best areas in our territory. Prey is abundant here, and in greenleaf especially, the sun beats down and heats up these rocks so it's the perfect spot for a cat to sun itself, hence the name."

Luna nodded, looking around. "It's... nice."

"Sunningrocks used to belong to RiverClan," Blackfrost continued, gesturing toward the stretch of land across the river; "Their territory is on the other side of this water. This place used to be on their side of the river, but after an enormous flood here, the river changed its course when the high waters died down, and Sunningrocks ended up on our side instead so we claimed it as our own. Lucky for us."

Luna shook her head in wonder, marveling at the sight of the raging river before them. "I-I've never seen so much water in one place before!"

Blackfrost's whiskers twitched in amusement at the astonishment in her voice. "You should see it when it floods; I wouldn't want to go in _that_ water, that's for sure. Slipping into an ice-cold stream is bad enough. But RiverClan cats, if you can believe it, could slip though that river as easily as if they were simply walking. They could swim across in an instant."

Luna glanced back at him. "So... As nice as this is, you didn't bring me all the way out here just to look at some rocks and water, did you?"

Blackfrost felt his pelt prickle in embarrassment at the knowing look in her eye, but he nodded. "Well… I actually, uh, wanted to speak to you in private. To apologize... I'm really sorry for the way I was acting, okay?" he finally spat out in a jumbled rush.

Luna's eyes widened slightly in surprise, and Blackfrost continued, "I just, I honestly do feel bad for what I said about you the other night... I know it's not really an excuse, but I was just frustrated, okay? A lot of things have changed here recently... I mean, you don't have to accept my apology, but I just want you to know that I honestly do feel sorry now for treating you so cruelly in the past... At first I was just doing my duty as a ThunderClan warrior in trying to drive you away, but after Foreststar allowed you to stay here, I should have accepted your place here, too. You didn't exactly ask to stay here, after all... so I can't just keep pushing all the blame onto you."

The pale she-cat simply stared at him, presumably lost for words, and he went on bitterly, "I was acting no better than Snakefang, always deriding kittypets and rogues, treating them like dirt. It just... isn't right. He was cruel to me, too, ever since we were kits, and you would think that he would be able to open up to me at least a _little_ bit, seeing as how we've grown up together in the same Clan ever since we could remember."

"I-I don't blame you, Blackfrost," Luna mewed softly, pushing aside the warrior's odd phrasing in describing his brother. "I admit, I was angry with you at the time, and I guess I still kind of am, but I don't think you're a bad cat..."

She sighed, as though she didn't fully want to admit what she was about to say. "...You did save me, after all. And you probably didn't have to do that... It might have made more sense for you to go on ahead without me when that dog chased us - I'm sure you could have outrun it easily, and you didn't have any obligation to protect me or anything - but you still stayed with me to help. And I _did_ need help, even if I wanted to go ahead and pretend that I was fine on my own."

They sat in silence for a moment, listening to the river swiftly flowing past them only a few fox-lengths away.

"Well…" Blackfrost finally spoke up, a little awkwardly, "Then I guess that settles it."

Luna slowly nodded, then stifled a purr of amusement at the sudden thought that crossed her mind. "One more thing... Snakefang? He's that smaller dark grey tabby, your brother, right?"

Blackfrost cringed slightly. "In a way..."

"Well... You know, he's probably only so rude to you because he's _jealous_ ," she purred, quick to try and raise Blackfrost's spirits. "I mean, it's obvious that Foreststar favors you over him, after all. The Clan _leader_ , he was your mentor! Even _I_ know that must be kind of a big deal around here, so I suppose I could see why he might feel bitter about it and try to take it out on you."

Blackfrost, however, wasn't entirely convinced at that theory. Luna, after all, wasn't aware of his rogue parentage... The Clans weren't only harsh toward kittypets for their soft, spoiled and pampered lives among the Twolegs – they rejected rogue cats, too, for their disorderly, selfish lives as loners outside the warrior code.

Just as he was contemplating this thought, there was a small scuffling sound coming from one of the rocks closest to the riverbed – it sounded like some little creature had come out from its den despite the chilly weather, or perhaps it was still burying nuts in the earth in preparation for the harshest of leaf-bare weather to come.

Blackfrost slowly crept forward, peering around one of the cracks in the rock. Just below them, a water vole was nosing its way through the crevice, blissfully unaware of the two cats nearby.

Luna watched as the dark young warrior sprung at the creature, not realizing that he had gone after it mainly so that he wouldn't have to reply to her. With a deft forepaw, claws unsheathed, he scooped the vole out from the shallow crevice, and then quickly darted in to kill the small animal with one swift bite to the neck while it was still stunned from its fall against the hard rock surface.

Satisfied with his catch, Blackfrost calmly buried his kill in the nearest patch of earth that was still soft. "We already ate, so we can fetch this before we go back to camp for the fresh-kill pile."

The kittypet looked at him as he did this, an odd, glazed-over look in her deep ice-blue eyes, as though she weren't really looking at him at all. She looked so solemn, her pale fur fluffed up from the cold. And her voice had an empty, hollow sort of tone to it when she spoke up again, barely reaching a whisper.

"I miss my housefolk... The littlest details always remind me of them, even things like your hunting. We never had to hunt for our own food back when I lived with them, or sleep outdoors in the cold in nests made of moss, or fight to survive..." She trailed off.

"...There's one thing I don't understand, though," Blackfrost mewed slowly as he recognized the sadness in her words, and he turned back to face Luna. "If you miss living in Twolegplace so much, why don't you go find some new Twolegs? I'm pretty sure that if you just hung around one of their nests for a bit, the Twolegs living there might take you in."

Luna sighed deeply; the question was innocent, but hopelessly naive, and diverted her attention from her melancholy memories. "I can't just get _new_ ones. I loved my old housefolk! Joanne, and Robert, and Selene, too - she was their other cat, by the way - they were all family to me. Like how your Clanmates are to you. Family."

"But…" Blackfrost still didn't quite comprehend, "Wouldn't you be happier there? In a Twoleg nest? You're _not_ a warrior, after all... I bet you could easily find some nice Twoleg to take you in and care for you, being a... er, such a pretty cat... Ugh, you know what I mean. You still look like a kittypet, not all thin and hard and wild like we are. Twolegs would like you, I'm sure."

Luna's whiskers twitched in amusement, unsure of whether the ThunderClan tom had been genuinely complimenting her or indirectly insulting her. "Blackfrost... I don't think housefolk are simply replaceable like that. They're all different; I would never find another just like mine. Even Joanne and Robert were completely different from each other."

She shook her head distractedly, looking back down at her paws. "Housefolk have unique personalities, just like cats do. And... I know you, and all the other wild cats, hate them, and sometimes with good reason, I'm sure, but my housefolk were different. They were kind, and I could tell they really loved me, just as I loved them. We didn't have to be blood related like how you and your Clanmates are to feel that."

There it was again.

She glanced back up at him, her icy blue eyes sparkling like crystal. "Not all 'Twolegs' are inherently bad, you know, just as not all cats are inherently good."

Blackfrost felt a jolt in his chest at that statement; he realized that might have been the most well thought out, intelligent thing he had ever heard the kittypet say.

And another thing... Her assumptions about his family, his Clan. He and Luna each had their own families, her in her Twolegs and his in ThunderClan, like she said, but there was one vital detail that she hadn't caught on to yet – Blackfrost _wasn't_ blood related to his 'family', either.

But was now the right time to tell her that?

Blackfrost closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as Luna watched him curiously. "Luna... there's probably something else you should know. About me. We might be more alike here than you think."

She looked confused, so he tentatively continued, half-wishing by now that he hadn't spoken a word.

"I-I wasn't born in ThunderClan." Saying this fact out loud to another cat, shakily admitting that it was true, he felt the familiar painful pang of shame and regret strike in his chest. "...Or any other Clan, for that matter. I don't have any true warrior blood in me."

"But… But how? You're..." she trailed off, bewildered by the revelation. "...You can't be a housecat like me!"

"No, definitely not," Blackfrost shook his head. "My... my mother was a rogue, just some Clanless she-cat living on her own out in the forest. I-I honestly don't know if she had died or not, she was probably killed off by a badger or something, but either way, she had gone without a trace and abandoned me out there on my own, left me to die as an orphan. And don't even ask me about a father, because I have no idea. I have no kin. Foreststar, back before he was ThunderClan leader, he found me and rescued me from the forest when I was only a tiny kit; he gave me to Woodfern to care for along with her own kits, and insisted that I be raised in ThunderClan like a true Clan cat."

He shrugged, almost apologetically. "I just got lucky, but this is all I know."

"I never knew my kin, either..." Luna spoke up as Blackfrost trailed into uncomfortable silence. "I don't remember having a mother, or a father. Only my housefolk. I'm like you... but it seems that we both found a place to belong, a new family, regardless; even though they're two very different ways of life."

Her voice hardened suddenly. "But... at least you still have your Clan now. I have... nothing."

"Luna, I'm sorry about your Twolegs - er, _housefolk_. I never realized you truly cared about them that much..."

Suddenly, he froze in mid-thought, an unfamiliar, distracted look on his face that made Luna's fur bristle with apprehension as she saw him glance over her shoulder, his eyes narrowed suspiciously. The sleek black tom sniffed at the air cautiously, slowly, and Luna followed suit, though she couldn't make out any recognizable scents other than the usual forest scents, and something else that smelled vaguely wet and cold, like the freezing water lapping against hard grey stone.

Before she could take another curious step in the direction of the river, Blackfrost held his tail out in front of her to bring her to an abrupt halt, his green eyes serious as he scanned the rocks ahead of them. "Shhh," he whispered.

" _What_?" she hissed back, her voice quavering. She hated not knowing what was going on!

Blackfrost shook his head, glancing over at the stretch of land on the other side of the great river, his ears pricked intently. There was nothing there, as far as Luna could tell, other than more trees and rocks and a thin layer of snow.

"There's RiverClan scent on these rocks, no doubt about it... I can't believe I didn't notice it before. And it's relatively fresh, too." His tail thrashed indignantly. "But this is _our_ side of the river!"

"RiverClan?" Luna echoed. She shivered, and this time, it wasn't merely from the cold. "That's one of the other wild Clans... That one you just you told me about, right?"

The dark ThunderClan warrior nodded, and sat back on his haunches as he noticeably relaxed, though his muscles still remained tense as though he were ready to leap straight into battle at any possible moment. "Yes… The scent isn't _too_ fresh, so I doubt they're still around now, but there were _definitely_ RiverClan warriors here earlier today, at Sunningrocks... A lot of them, were very close by. It's so strong, the scent hasn't even been muffled by the snow, yet."

He turned back to look Luna straight in the eye. "We need to go back to camp right now and report this. Sunningrocks belongs to ThunderClan!"

Luna cocked her head to the side. "Don't take this the wrong way, please, but... why is this such a big deal?"

Of course, she understood now that any RiverClan cats trespassing on ThunderClan territory would be against the warrior code, so this was definitely not a good sign, but that didn't fully explain why Blackfrost was acting so unsettled by it. Couldn't he just drive them off himself, like he had tried to do with her when they first met? He was a strong and capable warrior, after all, wasn't he?

Blackfrost, however, snorted at her innocent question as though he could read all the naive thoughts running through her mind.

"RiverClan warriors are strong, and very proud. After ThunderClan defeated them in a battle here, just before you came out into the forest, in fact, they were _furious_." He shuddered at the memory of his first and only battle as an apprentice; it had been _much_ more serious than a simple border skirmish. Cats had nearly _died_. "Tensions between our Clans have been at an all-time high ever since, though we haven't seen many signs of RiverClan activity for over a moon, since the last Gathering was cancelled. I definitely wouldn't want to cross paths with a whole patrol of them anywhere near this area."

He tilted his head at her, eyes narrowed. "And no offense, but one lone young warrior and an untrained, clawless kittypet would be no match for a full RiverClan patrol of powerful, vengeful warriors intent on taking back this territory for their own. They would make mousemeat of us, easily."

Luna nodded seriously – she required no further explanation, that was for sure. She glanced over at the strange territory beyond the river one last time, and her pelt prickled as she imagined an entire horde of enormous, faceless wild cats climbing out of the dark water toward her, their sleek pelts dripping wet and slashing claws as long as her foreleg.

Meanwhile, Blackfrost had quickly scraped at the soft patch of earth with his unsheathed claws to uncover the plump little vole he had caught earlier on in their conversation, and was gesturing for Luna to follow him back under the protection of the trees. "Perhaps we shouldn't have come here... Sunningrocks has become a dangerous place after our last battle here. RiverClan aren't very happy with us right now."

Luna shook her head and daintily hurried after him. "Well, maybe, but... No, I'm glad you brought me here, Blackfrost. Thank you."

Despite his current misgivings about RiverClan that sent a prickle of urgency through his chest, Blackfrost couldn't help but feel a sense of genuine happiness at Luna's gratitude toward him. Though it felt strange to admit it, he honestly did feel he had a growing appreciation for the she-cat.

At the moment, however, he hadn't time to dwell on those feelings. Right now, there were more dire matters to attend to.

* * *

 **A/N: So, Blackfrost has finally revealed to Luna the one thing they might have in common - that they both seem to be outsiders in ThunderClan, albeit in very different ways. This won't be the last we hear of Blackfrost's past, though. There are still many secrets to be revealed, and while I know this chapter was a _lot_ of talk, there is still plenty of action to come!**

 **In reply to reviews on the previous chapter – you probably won't have to worry about Luna becoming a medicine cat, haha. That's not my intention. She's developed an interest in healing, sure, but that's mostly because she _hates_ any sign of blood or injury (you'll see more on that in a future chapter, when conflicts with the other Clans progress), and just kind of feels better with the knowledge that there are ways to treat it, if that makes sense? So Dustypaw's little ear issue was definitely blown out of proportion by Luna. She may act as Rosethorn's assistant for a time, mostly because she wants to feel like she has a purpose here, but she's not medicine cat material in my opinion – there's more to the role than just medicine (connection with StarClan, for example, which Luna doesn't have), and that position in the Clan is much too important for any kittypet to be accepted. However, there still may be a chance for her to become a regular apprentice, or at least get _some_ sort of warrior training once Blackfrost and Rosethorn think up their own way to teach a clawless cat modified hunting and self-defense.**

 **Anyway, thank you all so much for reading this far, and I apologize for my update lateness yet again; I've been working on some more projects for other fandoms lately, some of which you may see posted on FanFiction sometime soon if you care to look. A proper Gathering chapter will be coming up _very_ soon - remember, the last one was canceled due to the thunderstorm (and Blackfrost hadn't been allowed to attend, anyway). I don't know about you guys, but I always love reading about the Gatherings, myself. So many things can happen!**

 **\- CCM**


	19. Ch17: River and Shadow

CHAPTER 17

"Foreststar!"

Blackfrost marched determinedly through the gorse tunnel into the ThunderClan camp, and Luna followed right at his heels, ignoring the brambles that poked through her long fur as she squeezed through into the clearing. She gasped for air as they paused just at the edge of camp, already out of breath from their short trek back from Sunningrocks through the cold, wintry forest. Admittedly, it hadn't been a particularly far distance, but why had Blackfrost insisted on moving so fast? It took all she had simply not to fall head over paws over a twisted tree root as she struggled to keep up with the dark ThunderClan warrior.

The half dozen or so warriors who were happened to be in the clearing turned to look at the sudden arrival of the odd pair of cats, but none of them said a word to them, much to Luna's relief. The last thing she felt like dealing with right now was some rude comment from one of the less-than-friendly wild cats.

As she plopped herself down onto the grass to catch her breath, despite the thin layer of uncomfortably frozen snow that coated the ground, Blackfrost went to place his water vole on the fresh-kill pile and then approached the Highrock where the ThunderClan leader himself lived. "Foreststar? I have something important to report!"

"Oh?" An enormous, dark grey tabby tom slinked around from the other side of the Highrock and eyed the black-furred young warrior curiously. "Blackfrost? What's all this urgency about?"

"I found RiverClan scent at Sunningrocks," Blackfrost succinctly explained to the ThunderClan deputy with a glare. Despite his oftentimes harsh attitude toward the younger warrior, Hawktalon said nothing criticizing toward him as his amber eyes narrowed knowingly. It was obvious that there were bigger issues to worry about.

Before Blackfrost could explain anything further, Foreststar himself swiftly appeared behind his deputy, his forest-green eyes serious. "What is this I hear about RiverClan?"

Blackfrost was just about to open his mouth to describe in detail what they had discovered at Sunningrocks when he was interrupted by yet another warning yowl. Both he and Luna whipped around simultaneously as the gorse tunnel rustled and a patrol of cats stormed through – to their immediate relief, they smelled of ThunderClan.

Foreststar and Hawktalon exchanged a concerned look before turning toward the newly returned patrol – the brawny black and white warrior Moletooth was in the lead, along with the grey flecked she-cat Raincloud and her apprentice Grasspaw, and the lithe dark brown tom Mosspelt holding a plump mouse in his jaws.

Luna glanced at the fat little mouse eagerly – mice were her favorite forest-cat food, after all – but quickly recoiled when she got a closer look at the piece of prey. The mouse in Mosspelt's jaws was already half eaten, it seemed, and though she sat some distance away, even she could smell the faintest odor that wafted from it. It smelled awful, though she couldn't place what the exact smell was for the life of her, as she'd never scented anything like it before.

Mosspelt dropped the stinky piece of fresh-kill just about a rabbit-length in front of Foreststar and Hawktalon, who took one look at the mouse and exchanged a terse glance. Beside them, Blackfrost's green eyes widened slightly before quickly falling back into his usual glare. Though Luna didn't recognize it, which wasn't surprising, it seemed that the ThunderClan warriors knew the scent well. And by the looks on their faces, it wasn't a good sign.

Foreststar glanced between Moletooth and Blackfrost, quickly sizing up the two warriors before making a decision. "Moletooth, you explain your situation first."

Luna just barely caught on to Blackfrost's subtle eye roll as Moletooth opened his mouth to speak. The large black and white tom's tail twitched angrily, as though he were still bothered by whatever had happened on the patrol, and his tone was sharp and cold.

"I was leading the border patrol with Mosspelt, Raincloud and her apprentice. We patrolled up along the Thunderpath, near the ShadowClan border. And look at what we found - _this_." Mosspelt nervously stumbled backward a little as Moletooth swiped a frustrated paw toward the slain fresh-kill, claws unsheathed. "Prey, scattered across _our_ side of the border, all half-eaten and left to rot. And it all _reeks_ of ShadowClan. There's no mistaking the stench."

Hawktalon's amber eyes narrowed. "How many did you find?" he asked gruffly.

"About five or six pieces of fresh-kill in all," Raincloud replied from where she sat beside Moletooth, her normally calm and steady voice filled with uncharacteristic anger. "Food that should rightfully be ours."

Curious and somewhat frightened by the thick air of frustration she could sense among the riled ThunderClan warriors, Luna cautiously padded up to Blackfrost, who sat off to one side as he listened in on the border patrol's report, and prodded him carefully in the side with her paw. "ShadowClan?" she asked in a whisper, not eager to draw attention to her Clan ignorance yet again.

Blackfrost nodded. "Their territory lies to the north, beyond the great Thunderpath," he mewed shortly, repeating the phrases he had heard about ShadowClan ever since he was a kit in the nursery. "It's a dark, marshy place, and their warriors are hardened from the cold winds that blow over their land."

So that was what the awful smell was that tainted the leftover mouse – ShadowClan scent. Though Luna still wasn't sure what on earth a 'Thunderpath' was, she decided it was best not to interrupt and ask any more questions now.

"What should we do?" Mosspelt asked the ThunderClan leader, his eyes wide. Foreststar seemed to pause in consideration of his options while Hawktalon glowered beside him at nothing in particular.

"I'll rush into battle against ShadowClan myself right now, if I have to," Moletooth declared boldly, his angrily unsheathed claws tearing at the snow and grass beneath his paws. "Show those crowfood-eaters that they won't be getting away with stealing ThunderClan's prey again."

But Foreststar merely shook his head. "In a moment. Blackfrost, you next," he meowed pointedly.

The dark young warrior nodded, and his eyes darted toward Luna for the briefest moment. "I was, er, I went to Sunningrocks this sunrise," he stammered, deliberately leaving out certain pieces of information regarding his company at the time, "Just for, ah, a little early morning hunting, on my own..."

Great StarClan, since when was he this awful at lying?

"And…?" Hawktalon pressed, tapping his claws on the ground impatiently.

"Well, nothing much actually happened," Blackfrost admitted. "We didn't see any RiverClan warriors, only found their scent on the rocks. But it was a strong, fresh scent. On _our_ side of the river."

Foreststar sighed. "This is not good," he murmured. Hawktalon looked at him.

"We can't let ShadowClan get away with this," the deputy growled. "Stealing our prey, and in leaf-bare at that, when fresh-kill grows scarce? It's a complete violation of the warrior code! And then leaving the half-eaten remains here on our own territory only adds insult to injury. Who do they think they are?"

"It's like they're goading us," Moletooth added. "What if they continue to steal prey from us all throughout leaf-bare, while our own kits and elders grow hungry and weak from the lack of food?"

"And RiverClan, too," Blackfrost grumbled. "I'd be willing to bet they're planning to take Sunningrocks back under their own territory!"

Raincloud, the pale grey she-cat with darker flecks across her pelt, nodded in agreement at his words as she and her apprentice shared a glance. "Another battle may be imminent."

Foreststar again shook his head. "This is all very unsettling, but... I will have to bring it up into discussion with the other Clans at the next Gathering. Until then, I must explain our current situation to the rest of the Clan, and we will wait to discuss the matter." He waved a paw in the air before any of his Clanmates could dare to interrupt. "You know as well as I that ThunderClan is in no place to charge into any impulsive battles just yet, and we don't know how the other Clans are faring. While we have some proof already, it would only benefit us to gain more information before taking action."

"But if the trespassing and prey-stealing continues, even after all that…?" Hawktalon pressed, still not entirely convinced.

"...Then we will have no choice but to take matters into our own claws."

Satisfied for the time being, the ThunderClan warriors fell silent, and Blackfrost's eyes widened at a specific bit his leader had mentioned – the Gathering. After all that had happened in the past moon or so, Blackfrost had nearly forgotten all about it. Granted, they still had half a moon before ThunderClan would meet the other three Clans under truce of the full moon, so a lot could happen to change things in that span of time... But after the previous Gathering had been canceled due to the storm, it felt like they had gone full _moons_ without seeing the other Clans; only these small signs of them that didn't leave a very good impression.

Therefore, the news to be provided at this upcoming Gathering was vital. Blackfrost hoped with all his might that he would actually be allowed to go to this one.

Turnings swiftly with a whip of his striped tail, Foreststar leapt onto the Highrock to make his familiar call.

"May all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!"

Moletooth's patrol promptly dispersed into the crowd as more ThunderClan cats left their dens to gather around the central clearing – Grasspaw trotted off to join her apprentice friends, Raincloud took a seat beside Sparrowflight and Lightningstripe, and Mosspelt quickly joined the large silvery-grey she-cat Mistydawn, who licked at his ear affectionately as he approached.

"Cats of ThunderClan," Foreststar announced once the steady murmur had died down, "two of our warriors, Blackfrost and Moletooth, have each brought us news. And none of it sounds very good, unfortunately."

* * *

By the time the Gathering finally rolled around, nearly half a moon later, Blackfrost had grown so impatient that he was practically itching to run to Fourtrees right then and just wait there for the other Clans to show up. And he wasn't the only one - many of the ThunderClan cats, particularly the more battle-hungry ones, were growing restless with the way Foreststar had dealt with the building tensions with RiverClan and ShadowClan. Or, more precisely, _hadn't_ dealt with them.

More RiverClan scent marks had been scented at Sunningrocks by the border patrol at sunrise, this time as far into their territory as the tree line, though Foreststar demanded that his warriors not engage or even talk to any RiverClan warriors they might come across in their patrol, save for a quick and civil greeting, unless the RiverClan cats were explicitly found _on_ their territory and not just along the border. Meanwhile, more prey remains that seemed to smell of ShadowClan had also been discovered within ThunderClan territory, though no ShadowClan warriors were seen in the area. All of this only added fuel to the ThunderClan cats' stewing rage.

Despite the protests among his Clan, Foreststar insisted that they wait until the night of the Gathering to confront the other Clans with these issues under peaceful truce. If RiverClan and ShadowClan were still uncooperative even then, then battle would surely be imminent, but Foreststar wanted to attempt some sort of negotiations first.

Quite a few cats disagreed - including Hawktalon himself - but though he was also upset by what was happening, Blackfrost could see the usefulness in Foreststar's idea. It would be to their advantage to bring the trespassing and prey-stealing issues up in front of all four Clans, and then wait and see how the leaders of RiverClan and ShadowClan reacted to the accusations. Would they vehemently deny any involvement, or even go so far as to accuse Foreststar of lying in retort? Would they feign innocence, when all evidence pointed to them being in the wrong?

Or, though Blackfrost himself doubted this, was there something bad going on in one or both Clans that made them desperate to expand their territory or steal prey despite the consequences? If he had to choose one Clan where this would be the case, he'd pick ShadowClan; Blackfrost would swear by StarClan themselves that RiverClan was only retaliating after their own loss of territory at the previous Sunningrocks battle. He struggled to understand why any ShadowClan warrior would bother to steal prey, only to eat half of it on the spot in the middle of ThunderClan territory, and then leave the rest for an enemy Clan's patrol to find. It made no sense.

Therefore, as the sunlight faded away to deepening shadows on the night of the Gathering, Blackfrost felt his heart practically leap from his chest in kit-like excitement despite himself when he heard Foreststar make his familiar call to all of ThunderClan from the Highrock.

"It is time to announce the cats that I have chosen to attend the Gathering tonight," Foreststar announced from his usual high position overlooking the Clan. He cleared his throat before continuing, "The cats who will be joining me are Hawktalon, Moletooth, Sparrowflight, Flamepelt, Mistydawn, Mosspelt, Treeshade, Rowanfur, Woodfern, Snakefang, Robinsong, Blackfrost, Rosethorn, Dustypaw, Acornpaw, and Wrenpaw."

Blackfrost couldn't help but sigh in relief as the ThunderClan leader called out his own name in the Gathering lineup. This meeting was going to be very interesting, to say the least. He wouldn't want to miss it even if StarClan themselves begged him to.

Meanwhile, the two youngest ThunderClan apprentices, siblings Acornpaw and Wrenpaw, were practically bursting with excitement at the notion of their very first Gathering. Amused, Blackfrost shook his head at them good-naturedly as they bounced off together to bug their respective mentors with questions about the Gathering. He remembered just how excited he had been to go to his own first Gathering as an apprentice with Robinpaw - the apprehension he felt as he paused with the rest of his Clan at the edge of Fourtrees before bursting down into the great clearing below, the sense of wonder bubbling within his chest as he first laid eyes on so many different cats all joined together in one place, more than he could have ever imagined.

He talked with other cats at these Gatherings, too, mostly apprentices from the other Clans, though he hadn't made any friends like his much more friendly and outgoing sister Robinsong had. Still, it would be nice to see those familiar faces again now, as a full ThunderClan warrior, despite the apparent heightened tensions with RiverClan and ShadowClan.

Blackfrost caught sight of the reddish-furred warrior Foxtail a few rabbit-lengths from him, and felt the smallest sense of pleasure at the distasteful look on her face – this time, she wouldn't be going to the Gathering, much to her dismay. It gave him some satisfaction to see the disagreeable she-cat put in a similar position that he had been in before the last Gathering, and after all the trouble she'd put him through lately, he didn't feel bad about it one bit.

"Have a nice, quiet night back at camp," Blackfrost mewed to her, feigning sincerity. Foxtail whipped around to face him, scowling, but said nothing in retort as she suddenly stood up and stalked away. Blackfrost let out a soft _mrrow_ of amusement.

"So... You're finally going to a Gathering, then?" Luna asked from where she awkwardly sat about a tail-length from him, shuffling her paws. She had ended up feeling guilty for being the reason that he couldn't go to the last one, despite the fact that it was canceled so he hadn't really missed out on much, after all; however, Blackfrost could tell that she also didn't really want him to leave camp tonight, deep down.

He nodded. "Yes... we'll be gone all night."

"But... Rosethorn will be gone too..." the kittypet mumbled dubiously, half to herself.

"Don't worry, Luna. You'll be fine here." Blackfrost stifled an amused snort. "It's a Gathering, anyway; not like the other Clans are going to ambush our camp or anything tonight. Peaceful truce and all that."

However, he faltered slightly at the sense of terror that flashed in her icy blue eyes for the briefest moment.

"Oh, come on, Rosethorn has left you alone before, anyway," he mewed to her, slightly exasperated now. "What did you do when she left for the medicine cats' meeting at the Moonstone during the half-moon?"

Luna shrugged uncertainly. "Robinsong stayed with me that time..." She flicked her tail. "She always stays with me when Rosethorn has to go out for an extended period of time."

And now that he thought about it, that was true - one thing Blackfrost had noticed about Luna in the past moon was that the kittypet was exceptionally _clingy_. When she wasn't hanging around him every other time he stepped foot in camp, she was tagging along after Rosethorn like a pale shadow, often with a mouthful of herbs in her jaws, to aid the medicine cat in her usual duties, or even chatting animatedly with Robinsong like a couple of gossipy elders. Blackfrost doubted that she was ever alone in the ThunderClan camp.

But now, all three of her usual companions would be gone for the night at the Gathering, and Luna had no other cat to cling to. There was no way Foreststar would allow her to attend the Gathering too, after all - while some cats in ThunderClan had slowly begun to accept, or at least begrudgingly tolerate, her presence in the Clan, she was still an outsider. No kittypet had any place at a Gathering; chances are, she would only make ThunderClan look bad, and possibly give the other Clans all the more reason to antagonize them. Though Blackfrost didn't dare tell her that.

"It'll be fine, Luna," he meowed, more seriously this time. "You'll be fine. Rosethorn and I and the others will be back by the time the full moon sets, and until then, you won't be _totally_ alone here. The elders and queens and a few warriors and apprentices are staying behind, too."

He couldn't help but add, with the slightest smirk, "Besides, you'll be sleeping the entire time, anyway."

"You all ready to go?" He heard Robinsong call out to him pleasantly, waiting by the gorse tunnel where the ThunderClan Gathering patrol had already begun to set off, led by Foreststar. "Better hurry up, or you'll be left behind!"

"Yes, I'm coming." He good-naturedly flicked his tail over Luna's pale grey ears in goodbye, before turning to follow after his sister and the rest of the ThunderClan patrol. "I'll see you later, then."

Luna nodded, appearing much more relaxed now, which was hopefully a good sign. "Bye, Blackfrost."

The kittypet's voice echoed around around in Blackfrost's head as he raced after his Clanmates through the darkened trees and undergrowth of familiar ThunderClan territory, Robinsong at his side. Foreststar led them at such a fast pace, they were practically flying through the forest, and for the most part, Blackfrost could only catch shining glimpses of his Clanmates' pelts in the moonlight.

The patrol slowed down, however, by the time they neared the edge of ThunderClan territory where Fourtrees lay, and the territories of all four Clans came together. Though he didn't usually pay much attention to these sorts of things, Blackfrost couldn't help but notice the she-cat Mistydawn as she steadily trotted along beside him, and how particularly swollen her stomach seemed to be. The tom Mosspelt flanked her side in an almost protective way, which seemed kind of funny; Mistydawn herself had always been one of the strongest fighters in all of ThunderClan, so it wasn't like she was in any real need of protecting.

But it seemed that, if his suspicions were correct, Mistydawn would very soon be retiring from the warriors' den for a few moons in favor of a new nest in the nursery.

"This should be an important Gathering," Robinsong's soft, quiet mew drifted through the dark from somewhere over to his left. "To be quite honest, I hope Foreststar remembers to announce our warrior ceremonies, since he wasn't able to the last time... Even though that all seems so long ago."

She shrugged, appearing nonchalant. "It's more important that we address the issues with RiverClan and ShadowClan, though. I wonder how that'll go."

 _Don't we all_ , Blackfrost thought, but he held his tongue. That kind of sarcasm might be suitable to use on Snakefang, but Robinsong hadn't done anything to deserve the brunt of his impatient retorts.

Blackfrost held his breath as the ThunderClan warriors gathered together just at the edge of the clearing into Fourtrees, feeling mixed impatience and apprehension for what was to come in the meeting ahead. He could scent many cats beyond the row of bushes and tangled undergrowth that lay before them; the scent brought back memories of his very first Gathering as a ThunderClan apprentice. And up above, the full moon shined bright with not a single cloud in the star-speckled sky, which was quite a far cry from the thick grey stormclouds they were growing used to as leaf-bare thickened.

At the head of the group, Foreststar lifted his tail in a wordless signal to move forward, and ThunderClan dashed down the steep slope to the Gathering as one.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys, I'm finally back! Super sorry for the wait -this chapter was actually supposed to be posted _months_** **ago (ahem, like August),** **but then I got seriously distracted by my utter mess of a fall semester at school and had to put everything else on hold while I got my shit together. Plus I just wasn't entirely pleased with the way my writing was coming out for a while.** **So yeah, my updates on this story have really begun to slow down, but I still hope to finish it sometime this year!**

 **Thank you all so much for your kind and helpful reviews! I couldn't even begin to tell you how much it means to me, just that I always appreciate your comments! And thanks for pointing out some of my little slip-ups on Clan terminology – while I sometimes use more human words while focusing on Luna (since she's a housecat and is more familiar with human language), most of it is probably just mistakes on my part. They slip by sometimes when I'm trying to write up chapters really fast, haha. So I don't mind corrections if you happen to notice anything that seems off to you.**

 **Next up is the actual Gathering itself, from Blackfrost's point of view, of course... What do you think will happen with RiverClan and ShadowClan?**

 **-CCM**


	20. Ch18: The Gathering

CHAPTER 18

The scents of many different cats hit Blackfrost's nose all at once as the ThunderClan patrol burst into the clearing under the light of the full moon. They paused as Foreststar came to a steady halt and lifted his tail into the air, signaling his consent for the patrol to disperse among the already gathered crowd. The two newest ThunderClan apprentices, Acornpaw and Wrenpaw, eagerly glanced toward their respective mentors for permission to leave before excitedly bouncing off after Dustypaw, who had noticed a group of other apprentices nearby and had gone off to join them. Deputy Hawktalon watched them run off with a look of obvious distaste, before stalking off with the other senior warriors Moletooth and Treeshade. Meanwhile, the medicine cat Rosethorn swiftly trotted off to join another small group of cats from various Clans, likely the other medicine cats she was well-acquainted with.

Blackfrost stopped abruptly in the center of the mass of cats, unsure of where to go first, until Robinsong rested her tortoiseshell tail across his shoulders and led him away with her toward an opening in the crowd, hastily avoiding trampling a few overexcited Clan apprentices underfoot in the process.

WindClan had already arrived ahead of ThunderClan, as did RiverClan, Blackfrost realized with a jolt as he surveyed the clearing, catching sight of many of the lean, thin-furred forms of the moor cats, as well as the sleek, well-groomed pelts and sturdy builds of RiverClan's warriors. However, there were no ShadowClan cats to be found just yet. The young dark-furred warrior wasn't entirely sure whether this was a good thing or a bad one, but as it was, he didn't have much time to think about it.

"Snowpaw!"

Blackfrost heard Robinsong call out in pleasant surprise as she caught sight of one of the cats they knew rather well from previous Gatherings as apprentices. He turned and immediately recognized the lithe, snow white she-cat from WindClan.

Snowpaw – she was Cloudstar's sole daughter, and probably one of the prettiest she-cats in all of the Clans, based on what all the other toms said. Her pelt was fair and sleek and shone brightly in the moonlight, and her eyes were actually two slightly different colors, one a pale green and the other icy blue, which made her stand out even more.

Robinsong bounded up to her friend with as much energy as one of the apprentices, and the WindClan cat purred pleasantly as the tortoiseshell ThunderClan she-cat quickly nuzzled her head against her pale fur in greeting.

"Robinpaw! Is that you?"

Blackfrost slowly followed behind, not nearly as comfortable with cats from other Clans as his sister was. And the current problems arising with RiverClan and ShadowClan certainly didn't help matters, either.

He just caught on to Robinsong's amused purr as he approached. "Could be. It's Robin _song_ now, though."

Snowpaw beamed at her. "Well, that's great – but only if you call me Snowdrop, from now on!"

She glanced up from Robinsong and quickly noticed Blackfrost standing there, too. "Oh! And hi, Black... er, I assume you've been given your warrior name, too?"

He nodded tersely, made just the slightest bit uncomfortable by all of this outright friendliness. He had never been one for this sort of small talk. "It's Blackfrost, now."

"And you remember Snakepaw?" Robinsong asked the white she-cat, nodding toward the grey striped tom in question, who was off a little ways with Flamepelt speaking to the familiar WindClan warriors Swiftfoot and Hazelfire.

"Your brother?" Snowdrop inquired.

"He's Snake _fang_ now. Foreststar will probably announce our naming when the Gathering begins, but he _might_ forget to mention it, since-" Blackfrost shot her a warning glare, hoping she wouldn't divulge ThunderClan's problems with RiverClan and ShadowClan to any outsiders just yet, and Robinsong faltered slightly, "er, since the last Gathering was canceled, yes. He was supposed to do it then, but you know..."

Snowdrop nodded sympathetically. "The same happened with me. I know Cloudstar won't forget to mention me, though – I _am_ his only daughter, after all."

She glanced up toward the Great Rock in the center of the clearing, significantly larger than even the Highrock in the ThunderClan camp by quite a lot, where the leaders of each of the Clans would sit to announce their news during Gatherings. Cloudstar, Snowdrop's father and the eldest of the Clan leaders, was already seated rather regally at the top of the rock, surveying his surroundings. His deputy, the WindClan warrior Eaglestrike, sat on the ground nearby, the dark tom, large for a WindClan cat, serving as quite the contrast to his lean white leader.

Blackfrost watched, his green eyes narrowing in distaste, as the RiverClan leader Silverstar, a relatively young silvery-colored tom, leapt up onto the rock to join Cloudstar. He never had a particularly high regard for Silverstar, even before this new issue with RiverClan started; it had not been long since the previous RiverClan leader died after she had been struck by a fallen oak branch, a lithe, pale brown and white patched she-cat named Birdstar, that Silverstar became leader in her place and set out to battle ThunderClan over Sunningrocks – Blackfrost's first battle – before even a moon had passed since his naming at the Moonstone.

The two Clan leaders nodded curtly to each other in polite greeting, and they were soon joined by Foreststar himself, who quite obviously positioned himself on Cloudstar's other side so that he and the RiverClan leader were not seated next to each other on the rock. The other two deputies, Hawktalon and the sleek blue-grey RiverClan tom Heronflight, came to join Eaglestrike at the base of the Great Rock.

"Where are ShadowClan?" Cloudstar questioned loudly, eyeing the moon above with a hint of concern. "We must begin the Gathering soon – it is nearing moonhigh."

Silverstar merely shook his head distastefully. "You know how temperamental Ashstar can be."

As much as Blackfrost hated to admit it, he had to agree with the RiverClan leader on that point – ShadowClan's leader, the slim dark grey flecked she-cat Ashstar, had a tendency to play by her own rules and do things her way, regardless of what other cats thought. Though she wasn't known to outright defy the warrior code, as suggested by the recent signs of her Clan hunting on ThunderClan's territory, Blackfrost wouldn't put it past the ShadowClan fox-hearts to try such a thing.

Foreststar had just been about to open his mouth to reply, when there came a rustling from the line of shrubs and undergrowth at the edge of the clearing, and a group of cats soon slinked out into the open moonlight. Blackfrost craned his neck around to look at the new company; to him, they seemed to smell of rotting marshes and bitter winds, and their eyes glinted coldly through the gloom.

ShadowClan had arrived.

But, as the ShadowClan cats crept closer and Blackfrost was able to get a better look at them in the light of the full moon, he couldn't help but note that there was something decidedly... _off_ about them. Generally a very aloof and prideful Clan, their normally sleek dark pelts now appeared ragged and clung to their skinny-looking frames, and though their expressions were cold, there was a certain weariness present in each of their eyes. There were only about nine or so cats in all, maybe half the usual size for a Gathering patrol.

The ShadowClan leader Ashstar strode confidently down the slope toward the Great Rock with her deputy, Smokepelt, just behind, and immediately leapt up to take a seat between Silverstar and Cloudstar while the rest of her Clan settled in the clearing below.

Ashstar's sharp amber eyes narrowed icily as she swiftly scanned the crowd. "ShadowClan is present," she stated coolly, without so much as an explanation for her Clan's tardiness or a sign of gratitude toward the other leaders for waiting. "The Gathering may now begin."

"Thank you for showing," Silverstar replied calmly, betraying no emotion as he met her gaze. Beside him, the disgruntled Cloudstar and Foreststar exchanged a subtle, meaningful look.

Ashstar merely nodded. "I would like to speak first," she declared, glaring at the other leaders as though daring them to interrupt. When none did, the grey she-cat sat up regally, her tail wrapped neatly around her paws.

Robinsong exchanged a glance with Blackfrost, and though they didn't speak, he could catch the slightly worried look in his sister's wide amber eyes – Ashstar was certainly stretching her limits already. Up on the Great Rock, Cloudstar openly glared at the dark she-cat beside him, while Foreststar watched the crowd below with narrowed eyes. Only Silverstar seemed thoroughly unbothered, his ears pricked toward the ShadowClan leader politely.

"ShadowClan is thriving," she began, "and we are preparing well for leafbare. Prey is still plentiful enough on our territory, and one of our queens, Honeyfur, has graced us with two more healthy kits to add to the Clan."

Blackfrost raised a brow incredulously – judging by their thin frames alone, ShadowClan was certainly _not_ thriving. Leave it to such an arrogant Clan to make themselves seem much better off than they actually are, he snorted, eyeing a young ShadowClan warrior nearby whose ribs could clearly be seen outlined through his unkempt fur.

As it turned out, Ashstar had very little more to say about her Clan, other than the typical dull Gathering news; she said nothing about allowing her warriors to hunt on ThunderClan territory, which was to be somewhat expected, Blackfrost supposed. If she even knew what was going on, she probably didn't want to draw attention to the fact unless called out on it directly. Which she would be, soon enough.

The slim she-cat quickly turned the meeting over to Silverstar, who nodded to her and straightened up proudly, a glint in his blue eyes. "Good to hear you are doing well, Ashstar. As for RiverClan, we are also thriving. Fish swim plentiful in the river, despite the coming chill, and our young kits and apprentices continue to grow strong..."

Just as ShadowClan had made no mention of prey-stealing on ThunderClan's territory, Silverstar said nothing of his Clan's apparent trespassing around Sunningrocks. His turn to speak was soon over, almost as quickly as it had begun.

Still looking exceptionally dissatisfied, Cloudstar gave Foreststar a courteous glance, but the ThunderClan leader briskly dipped his head at him to go ahead and speak first.

"As harsh leafbare winds have begun to blow cold and snow across the moors, I am pleased to announce that WindClan is still faring perfectly fine," the white tom affirmed, though he didn't look all that pleased to Blackfrost – the sense of frustration about him as the Gathering commenced had still not left his eyes. However, he did spot a definite glimmer of pride in them as Cloudstar continued, "My own daughter, Snowdrop, has rightfully earned her warrior name, and we have named two new apprentices in our Clan as well, Sandpaw and Harepaw."

On Robinsong's other side, Blackfrost could easily hear Snowdrop's satisfied purr as her father announced her new warrior name before the Clans, allowing the chants of praise to wash over her. She was a very popular cat amongst all the Clans, it seemed.

Once Cloudstar had finished his report, it was finally ThunderClan's turn to address the four gathered Clans. Blackfrost watched intently as Foreststar stepped forward for his turn and cleared his throat to speak. Which issue would the ThunderClan leader bring up first?

"Prey still runs abundantly enough through the forests over ThunderClan territory, and our Clan also has two newly-named apprentices, Acornpaw and Wrenpaw," Foreststar quickly announced, "as well as three new warriors, who have earned their place in the Clan after fighting valiantly in our last battle – Robinsong, Snakefang, and Blackfrost."

A number of cats in the clearing cheered, though there were many more who didn't look nearly as pleased, Silverstar most obviously of all. Of course, Blackfrost thought; ThunderClan's last battle had been the fight over Sunningrocks with RiverClan.

Speaking of which...

"ThunderClan has been doing very well so far, considering the season," Foreststar continued slowly as he turned to look at his fellow leaders on the Great Rock, "but my warriors have discovered some issues with other Clans that need to be addressed."

Ashstar's tail swished over her paws, her amber eyes narrowed so far as she glared straight back at the great brown tom that they nearly looked to be closed, whereas Silverstar stared out into the faces of the crowd, avoiding Foreststar's sharp gaze. "Whatever do you mean by that?"

Blackfrost could clearly catch the hisses of a few of his nearby Clanmates. Foreststar, however, did not look angered as he promptly explained, "A number of my warriors have detected RiverClan scent markings on our side of the river, at Sunningrocks. Know that if you are planning to invade our territory and take back Sunningrocks as your own, ThunderClan will not give in without a fight."

He eyed the RiverClan leader levelly, who snorted.

"What need have we for Sunningrocks?" Silverstar replied swiftly, betraying no emotion. "RiverClan are perfectly content with catching fish from the river. We have no need to bother you over a bunch of rocks."

Blackfrost scowled – the RiverClan leader was obviously lying! And it seemed that he wasn't the only ThunderClan cat to share these sentiments.

"That's not what you said at the _last_ battle over Sunningrocks, _Silverstar_ ," the ThunderClan warrior Moletooth hissed through his gritted teeth.

Foreststar narrowed his eyes, but said nothing in retort. Instead, he turned toward Ashstar next, who glared right back at him, her steely amber gaze unflinching. "Not only that, but it has become apparent to my Clan that ShadowClan has recently begun hunting on our territory, as well."

Ashstar's amber eyes flashed furiously for a moment, though she quickly composed herself and resumed her usual cool demeanor. "...And what evidence do you possess to accuse my Clan of doing such?"

"My warriors have found the remains of half-eaten prey in the middle of our territory, near the Thunderpath – and all of it was covered in ShadowClan scent," Foreststar replied, a low growl emanating from the back of his throat. "Further ShadowClan hunting on our territory will not be tolerated, Ashstar."

Ashstar ignored all the hisses and growls from the ThunderClan cats in the clearing below. Her claws, now unsheathed, glinted in the moonlight as they scraped against the rock beneath her feet. "ShadowClan has _not_ been hunting on your territory, Foreststar," she snarled, "and we do _not_ take kindly to being accused of such. Perhaps your warriors have merely grown a little out of touch, and confused the scent of this prey with the ShadowClan border nearby."

At this, the gathered ThunderClan cats grew outraged. "Out of touch?" Moletooth practically roared from somewhere behind Blackfrost, "I'll show her _out of touch_ , that rotten piece of foxdung!"

A nearby ShadowClan warrior, Lichenfur, heard his outburst and whipped around, hissing. "Watch what you say about our leader, you disrespectful forest fleabag!"

Snowdrop gasped suddenly, and before Robinsong could ask her what was the matter, Cloudstar himself quickly stepped up to speak before the clearing could break out into chaos between the ThunderClan and ShadowClan cats. His yellow eyes seemed to burn with fury.

"WindClan have also discovered remains of prey on our territory, all of it smelling suspiciously of ShadowClan."

The calls of outrage throughout the clearing grew louder.

At this, Ashstar now quickly whipped her head around, glaring from Foreststar to Cloudstar, before finally settling her fuming gaze upon Silverstar. "And what about you, Silverstar?" she hissed, tail thrashing. "Will RiverClan unjustly accuse us of such wrongdoing, as well?"

The silvery RiverClan leader shook his head, though he looked not at Ashstar, but at Foreststar. His eyes glittered in the moonlight with some emotion that Blackfrost couldn't read from where he sat amongst the crowd. "RiverClan has no quarrel with ShadowClan," Silverstar stated calmly. "We are not involved in this matter."

Blackfrost could somewhat understand a Clan being hungry to the point of desperation, even going so far as to breaking the warrior code, even if he didn't agree with them doing so. It didn't explain, however, why Ashstar vehemently denied her Clan having any trace of guilt in the matter, even when two different Clans openly accused her of allowing her warriors to hunt on other Clans' territory.

Robinsong turned toward Snowdrop again, whose face was alight with shock. "Is this true?" she whispered to her WindClan friend. "Did your Clan really find evidence of ShadowClan stealing prey from your territory, too?"

The ghostly pale she-cat nodded, still staring up at the Clan leaders gathered on the Great Rock with widened eyes. "Some of our warriors have been finding remains of fresh-kill on the outskirts of the moors," she mewed quietly, "all half-eaten and smelling something rancid; like ShadowClan's scent."

Blackfrost considered what each of the leaders had said on the matter. If this were all true, then was ShadowClan hunting on the territories of _two_ other Clans? Was their Clan really that desperate and hungry for prey, despite what their leader assured? But if that were truly the case, then why would ShadowClan's warriors not take their kills with them back to camp, and instead eat it on the spot and leave half the remains for enemy patrols to find? It was glaring evidence against them, after all. Unless ShadowClan was trying to make a statement to the other Clans? But then if so, why deny it now at the Gathering?

There was no denying that something about this whole situation was certainly fishy, and that was even without adding RiverClan to the mix. It seemed that concealing a kittypet in the Clan was really the least of ThunderClan's worries, after all.

As Blackfrost abruptly shook himself from his musings, the yowls of outrage and snarls of discontent that rang throughout the clearing had only grown louder as more and more cats of all the Clans began to argue amongst each other, hurling vicious insults and jeers.

"Mange-pelts!"

"Trespassing fishfaces!"

"Lying, crowfood-eating scum!"

"Come off it, you flea-ridden rabbit-chasers!"

Just beside him, it seemed as though Moletooth and the ShadowClan she-cat Lichenfur were preparing to leap into full-fledged battle, as they glared at each other with claws unsheathed and itching to fight at a moment's notice. Meanwhile, another dark ShadowClan warrior hissed threateningly at two mottled brown WindClan warriors who looked ready to pounce on him from either side with fangs bared. At the base of the Great Rock, the Clan deputies shifted beside each other in discomfort as their pelts bristled in mixed shock and anger.

Before the clearing could erupt into total and complete chaos, however, Cloudstar sternly called out, "Stop! Enough of this madness!"

The gathered cats quieted slightly at the sharp orders of the eldest Clan leader, though the fire in their eyes didn't die out.

"StarClan are not happy," the white warrior yowled, gesturing toward the full moon above with a wave of his tail. "Look! They're sending clouds through the sky as a warning!"

Sure enough, streaks of grey cloud had begun to drift across the once perfectly-clear night sky, their thin wisps hovering precariously over the bright circle of moon, dimming its light over the forest.

Beside him, Foreststar stepped forward on the rock, nodding. "Cloudstar is right," he agreed. His deep, powerful voice echoed through the clearing, demanding control now. "The Gathering, a truce between the Clans, is no time for a fight. Let this dispute be continued another day."

Ashstar also nodded her consent, though her shrewd amber eyes glared coldly at the other leaders with the ferocious sharpness of unsheathed claws. "Yes... But these unfounded accusations against ShadowClan will not be forgotten anytime soon, I assure you."

Before anything else could be said among the leaders, Silverstar growled loudly. " _This Gathering is over_! Come now, RiverClan. We are leaving."

He leapt off the rock and stormed off toward the treeline, waving his Clan forward to join him without pause. "...And don't think that our Clan will remain peaceful after this night is through, and StarClan's truce holds power over the forest no more."

This final warning was muttered under his breath ominously, unheard by most. At any rate, overhearing his last words certainly didn't boost Blackfrost's confidence on the matter.

Understandably so, the Gathering ended on a distinctly sour note. The cats of the four Clans were quickly rounded up and went on their separate ways toward their own respective territories, leaving very little time for inter-Clan goodbyes as they dispersed in an uneasy rush. With no more time to speak, Robinsong hurriedly waved her tortoiseshell tail at Snowdrop in farewell before the snow-white she-cat was herded away by her father and accompanying deputy, and Blackfrost nudged his sister to where the other ThunderClan cats were gathered, about to head out. Many of the warriors were grumbling, furious and dissatisfied with how the Gathering played out, while the three apprentices were absolutely wide-eyed in awe and a touch of fear.

On the way back to camp, Foreststar kept them practically flying at a swift pace through the familiar trees and thick undergrowth of ThunderClan territory, pushing them as though they were being trailed by enemy warriors the entire time. As they finally came thundering down the ravine toward their bramble-enforced camp, Blackfrost had a wild, fleeting thought of those enemies lying in ambush around its walls before descending upon the unsuspecting cats within – only about half of the ShadowClan warriors had shown up at the Gathering that night, after all. Which was definitely odd, considering how much Ashstar generally liked to show off her Clan's strength by taking all of her greatest warriors with her in full force.

But to Blackfrost's relief, the ThunderClan camp was quiet as the Gathering patrol entered the clearing, and totally devoid of any ShadowClan cats. He watched as the medicine cat, Rosethorn, retreated wearily to her den, and for the shortest possible moment, he considered going with her, if only to see Luna and tell her how the Gathering had gone. She certainly seemed curious about them when he'd previously told her about the Clan Gatherings. However, Blackfrost quickly decided against that notion – it was very late, and the kittypet was most definitely fast asleep by now. He didn't want to purposely disturb her for something like this, and Rosethorn would surely tell her all about the events of the Gathering when she woke up in the morning.

It was a strange feeling, but for some reason, that thought disappointed him, more than he'd care to admit.

* * *

 **A/N: Hello all, I'm back! I deeply apologize for my delay in posting, yet again. I've realized just how little I am able to write while school is still in session, so pretty much, only expect updates from me during the summer months (June, July, August) and maybe a little over Christmas break. It also definitely didn't help matters that my old laptop broke and _all_ my fanfic documents were lost, which was very discouraging when it comes to my writing, to say the least. But hey, at least I got a brand-new really nice laptop to replace it, haha.**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading, as always! A new character, Snowdrop, has been introduced (well, new to us, but not to Blackfrost and the others), and Luna should definitely feature more prominently in the next chapter. Hope to update again soon. :)**

 **-CCM**


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